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WASHINGTON — United States President Joe Biden tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid) on Wednesday, forcing him to cancel a campaign event in Las Vegas and likely sidelining him for days following the conclusion of former President Donald Trump‘s nominating convention Thursday.
The illness, which the president’s doctor said had produced only mild symptoms so far, was diagnosed even as the Democratic revolt over his candidacy got louder, with more of Biden’s allies and supporters calling on him to drop out of the race, citing concerns about his ability to defeat Trump.
Biden told reporters, “I feel good,” as he boarded Air Force One in Las Vegas to fly back to his beach house in Delaware, where he plans to recuperate. He was not wearing a mask nor were the people closest to him on the tarmac.
But having Covid is all but certain to complicate the president’s ability to answer his critics, many of whom have said they want him to show that he still has the vigour and energy to prosecute the case against Trump in campaign rallies, interviews and other events.
If Biden continues to test positive for the next week or more, it could keep him off the campaign trail. And if he continues to have congestion and a cough, as his doctor reported Wednesday, it could hamper his ability to perform well in any interviews that his campaign could schedule from his home.
The president and his campaign strategists had hoped to use a two-day visit to Las Vegas to sell his economic and immigration policies to Latino voters in the crucial battleground state of Nevada as he tries to reenergise his campaign after three weeks of instability. In a parallel effort to reach Black voters, on Tuesday he spoke at an NAACP conference and sat for an interview with BET News that was released Wednesday.
He was scheduled to speak at the annual conference for UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy organisation, but cancelled after an hourlong delay when his Covid test came back positive.
Biden is trying desperately to end the conversation about his cognitive capacity and address what polls suggest are three of his biggest political weaknesses: immigration, the economy and slipping support among Latinos. But the Covid diagnosis means he will not be able to mount an aggressive campaign push in the coming days.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said in a statement that “earlier today, following his first event in Las Vegas, President Biden tested positive for Covid-19.” She added that “he is vaccinated and boosted, and he is experiencing mild symptoms.”
The White House said Biden planned to remain at his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, to self-isolate and recuperate. Jean-Pierre said the president would continue to carry out his duties as president from Delaware.
US President Joe Biden rubs his nose while greeting shoppers inside Mario’s Westside Market grocery store in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States, on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters)
Biden’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, said in a release from the White House that the president had a runny nose, a cough and “general malaise” starting Wednesday afternoon. O’Connor said that he was given a rapid test for Covid because he was still not feeling well later in the day, and the results were positive for the virus.
“Given this, the president will be self-isolating in accordance with CDC guidance for symptomatic individuals,” he wrote, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He added that the president’s temperature was normal, and his blood oxygen was normal as well.
Biden has received an initial dose of Paxlovid, a treatment that may lessen the symptoms of the virus.
Before announcing the test results, Biden stopped at a restaurant earlier in the day. Reporters with him said he looked slower and a bit paler than the day before, when he delivered a speech at the NAACP convention.
Reporters travelling with the president said that there was a lengthy, unexplained delay in the afternoon leading up to the president’s scheduled appearance at the UnidosUS conference.
The first indication of Biden’s diagnosis came not from the White House but from Janet Murguía, chief executive of Unidos, who addressed the conference more than an hour after Biden had been expected to speak.
“Regrettably, I was just on the phone with President Biden. And he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon,” she said. “The president has been at many events, as we all know, and he just tested positive for Covid.”
Biden first tested positive for Covid in July 2022 and experienced mild symptoms for about a week. After testing negative, Biden tested positive again about a week later in what doctors said was a rebound case of Covid.
The president’s trip to Las Vegas came as Republicans focused on their national convention in Milwaukee this week.
During an interview with BET News on Tuesday, Biden dismissed concerns over signs that his support among Black and Latino voters was declining. “If you notice, whether it’s young Blacks or young whites or young Hispanics or young Asian Americans, they’ve never focused till after Labor Day,” he said. “I mean, the idea they’re focused intently on the election now, it’s not there.”
On Wednesday morning, he announced that starting Aug 19, immigrant spouses of American citizens would be able to apply for a new program that would shield them from deportation.
Last month, he announced the creation of the program, which could shield 500,000 people from deportation and give them a pathway to citizenship and the ability to work legally in the United States. In June, he also issued an executive order suspending asylum for most migrants at the border, to strike a balance on an issue that has been a major political vulnerability.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.