DONALD Trump said the Democrats won't strike a deal on the $1,200 checks because they think a bad economy will help Joe Biden win.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the president launched into a stinging attack on his rivals, saying they were holding up stimulus payments during the coronavirus crisis.

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Trump blamed Biden when he was asked why he refused to meet with the Democratic Party.

“They don’t want to make a deal,” he raged. "I don’t have to meet with them in order to be turned down.”

“They think if the country does as badly as possible, even though a lot of people are being hurt, that’s good for the Democrats."

The House of Representatives passed an additional $3trillion coronavirus relief bill in May – but the GOP-led Senate hasn't agreed to it.

Negotiations on compromise legislation have now stalled.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there is too much of a divide between the sparring parties to reach an agreement as she hit out at Trump on Sunday.

Speaking about unemployment and food lines, she told MSNBC: "On May 15, we passed the Heroes Act and it addresses a lot of the challenges that America's working families face.

"We have funding to help people pay the rent. Republicans have zero funding for that, they have next to nothing for food security.

"We must crush the virus. For some reason, because the president does not believe in science, does not accept science, does not believe in governance, [and] he doesn't want to act upon the science, we're in the situation that we're in."

Contrary to Trump's claims, Pelosi said his administration is "standing in the way" of virus mitigation and financial aid.

During his explosive news conference, Trump also lambasted Biden and Kamala Harris, senator and nominee for vice president, for casting doubt on his honesty when it came to a viable vaccine.

Trump said it would be available in "record time" before taking shots at the former VP and Harris, "the most liberal person in Congress, by the way, [who] is not a competent person."

"Biden and his very liberal running mate … should immediately apologize for the reckless anti-vaccine rhetoric that they are talking right now," Trump told reporters.

He also claimed Democrats like Harris "would destroy this country and would destroy this economy" after she told CNN's State of the Union that she wouldn't trust a cure touted by Trump.

Trump has asked Biden and Harris to apologize.

"I would not trust his word," Harris told host Dana Bash. "I would trust the word of public health experts and scientists, but not Donald Trump."

Speaking to reporters after a campaign stop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Biden said he would take a vaccine "tomorrow" if scientists say it's safe to do so – even if it cost him the US election.

He called for "full transparency on the vaccine," however, warning that Trump was "undermining public confidence."

I would trust the word of public health experts and scientists, but not Donald Trump

"If we do have a really good vaccine, people are going to be reluctant to take it," Biden noted.

His comments come after the Trump administration is reportedly pushing a COVID-19 vaccine to be produced before Election Day, reported The Washington Post.

"Too much of the evidence points to the Trump administration pressuring the [Food and Drug Administration] to approve a vaccine by Election Day to boost the President’s re-election campaign," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

"All Americans want a safe and effective vaccine as soon as possible, but if these important life and death decisions appear political, it will only undermine Americans' confidence in a vaccine and prolong the pandemic."

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked governors to accelerate building permit applications for vaccine distribution sites so they'd be up and running before November 3.

But Dr Anthony Fauci said the American public should trust health officials with a vaccine, insisting it "would not be approved for the American public unless it was indeed both safe and effective."

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