US President Joe Biden on Wednesday acknowledged, shortly after testing positive for Covid-19, that he would consider abandoning his troubled re-election campaign if he was diagnosed with a serious medical condition.
The 81-year-old Democrat gave a thumbs-up to media from his limousine and said, “I feel good.” He cut short a campaign trip to Las Vegas after the diagnosis.
The White House said he was suffering from a runny nose, cough and “general malaise,” was taking Covid medication, and was heading straight to isolation at his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware.
The diagnosis came just hours after the release of comments Biden made in an interview Tuesday in which he said he might step down as a presidential candidate “if I develop a medical problem.”
It is the latest dramatic incident over the past few days in an already frenzied and polarised White House race, which saw his rival Donald Trump narrowly escape assassination at a campaign rally.
Biden has been struggling for political survival since a disastrous debate against Trump nearly three weeks ago in which his tired and confused appearance sparked concerns about his age.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden tested positive shortly after he attended the first of a series of events in Las Vegas targeting crucial Latino voters.
“He has been vaccinated and received a booster dose, and has mild symptoms. He will return to Delaware, where he will self-isolate and continue to fully perform all of his duties during this time,” Jean-Pierre said.
The White House said in a note that Biden’s doctor said he was suffering from a runny nose and a “non-productive cough” as well as a “general malaise.”
He has been prescribed the Covid drug Paxovid and has taken his first dose as well, the statement said.
“His symptoms are mild, his respiratory rate is normal at 16, his temperature is normal at 97.8 and his pulse oximetry is normal at 97 per cent,” it said.
– ‘I’m feeling good’ –
Biden later stepped out of his limousine, called the Beast, and gave a thumbs-up at the Las Vegas airport.
“Good,” he told the press as he headed to Air Force One without a mask. “I feel good.”
Janet Murguía, president of the UnidosUS union for Latino workers, told the crowd about the diagnosis shortly before the White House announcement.
“I was just on the phone with President Biden and he expressed his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon,” she said.
The uproar over Biden’s health is set to grow even more, and the number of Democrats calling on him to step down is growing.
Asked what might cause him to reconsider his presidential bid, Biden told Black media outlet BET in an interview taped Tuesday in Las Vegas: “If any medical conditions of mine come up, if any, if the doctors come in and say ‘You have this problem, that problem.’”
He suffered a major setback Wednesday when Representative Adam Schiff, a top California Democrat, urged Biden to “hand over the torch.”
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Schiff said, “A second Trump presidency would undermine the foundations of our democracy, and I have grave concerns about whether the president will be able to defeat Donald Trump in November.”
Nearly 20 House Democrats and one senator have now called on Biden to drop out of the White House race.
Most polls show Biden trailing in the election, with Trump in a close race.
Biden has insisted that Democratic voters support him, but a poll conducted Wednesday by The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research said nearly two-thirds of voters want him to step down.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
