US President Joe Biden is being pushed by other Democrats to drop his reelection campaign. On Wednesday, he tested positive for Covid while in Las Vegas, and the White House said he is now isolating himself after having mild symptoms.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House, told reporters that the 81-year-old Democrat had a positive test after Biden had to stop a speech because of the news. “He has been vaccinated and given a boost, and his symptoms are mild,” Jean-Pierre said.
Biden’s doctor told the White House that he had been sick with upper respiratory complaints earlier in the afternoon. “He felt OK for the day, but given that he was not feeling better, point of care testing for Covid-19 was conducted and the results were positive for the Covid-19 virus,” the report said.
Covid
According to the Centers for Disease Control, Biden will be separating himself, which is what the White House said. The doctor said that his symptoms are mild and that he has already taken his first dose of Paxlovid. “He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time,” he said.
Biden told reporters as he got on Air Force One to leave Las Vegas for Delaware to rest, “Good, I feel good.” But he went up the stairs slowly, holding on tight to the handrail and stopping every few steps and again as he got to the top.
The White House said Biden was going to the beach for the long weekend. It wasn’t clear how long his illness would keep him away from the runoff.
A few minutes after the news came out, the president’s car was already on its way to the Las Vegas airport. In the city, they had been recording a radio interview.
There were two nights of campaigning in Las Vegas for Biden. He is currently in a fight with some Democrats who think he is too old to run for re-election and want him to step down in favor of someone else. Calls for him to drop out of the race have made him stubborn. In an interview, he said that only the “Lord Almighty” could get him to go.
Biden took a hit earlier on Wednesday when Adam Schiff, a well-known Democrat in the US House of Representatives, said it was time for him to “pass the torch” to someone else.
A study found that 58% of registered Democrats and 70% of registered independents thought Biden was too old to work for the government.
Biden’s most recent fight with Covid began in July 2022. On July 21, he tested positive, but on July 27, he got better. On July 30, he tested positive with a new case, but he was finally cleared on August 7.
