Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has called his rival President Donald Trump's handling of the pandemic "disgusting" and "almost criminal".

Biden was referring specifically to a newly released recording of Trump, from March, in which the president said he had played down the gravity of the coronavirus.

Biden told CNN: "It was all about making sure the stock market didn't come down, that his wealthy friends didn't lose any money, and that he could say anything, that in fact anything that happened had nothing to do with him."

Biden said the president "waved a white flag". "Think about it. Think about what he did not do - it's almost criminal," he added.

The recording came from an interview with Bob Woodward, who broke the Watergate scandal and is known as one of the nation's most respected journalists. He interviewed Trump 18 times from December to July for a new book.

Earlier this week, Mr Trump defended his "good and proper answers", and said he had not wanted to create panic.