Former President Donald Trump defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic Thursday and said “more people died” under his successor, President Biden.

“More people died under his administration, even though we had largely fixed it,” Mr. Trump said as he faced off against Mr. Biden in the first debate of the general election.

The pandemic dominated the two men’s first election in 2020 but has largely faded from view. Mr. Biden declared the pandemic over last spring.

Mr. Trump, though, said Mr. Biden’s handling is emblematic of his overall performance as president.

There were roughly 460,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 up through the end of January 2021, the month when Mr. Biden took over. Mr. Biden has overseen roughly 800,000 deaths since.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.