- Author, Ana Faguy and State Department Correspondent Tom Bateman
- Role, Reporting from Washington and Las Vegas, traveling with the President
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President Joe Biden is under renewed pressure to step down due to his age, with his campaign activities currently on hold due to a Covid-19 infection.
The two top Democrats in the US Congress, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are both said to have met with him privately to express their concerns about his candidacy.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also said to have told him that he cannot beat Donald Trump in the November election.
The White House announced Wednesday evening that the 81-year-old had contracted Covid and reported having mild symptoms.
Karine Jean-Pierre, his press secretary, said the president had been vaccinated and boosted. He had tested positive for Covid twice before.
Mr. Biden was seen visiting supporters in Las Vegas earlier in the day and speaking at an event. He canceled a campaign speech later in the evening.
Ms Jean-Pierre said the president planned to isolate himself at home in Delaware while carrying out “all his duties in full”.
According to the president’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, Biden had been experiencing upper respiratory symptoms, including a runny nose and cough, and had received his first dose of Paxlovid.
He felt fine during his first event of the day, but later tested positive, Dr. O’Connor said.
Biden later thanked everyone via X/Twitter for the “well wishes” and said he would “do everything I can to get the job done for the American people” during his recovery.
In another tweet, his account said “I’m sick” before replying back “…of Elon Musk and his rich friends trying to buy this election. And if you agree, please contribute here.”
The tweet referred to a donation portal.
Earlier on Wednesday, reporters traveling to Las Vegas reported being rushed from a Mexican restaurant hosting the campaign to the city’s airport after the announcement.
The restaurant was ablaze with color, with Mexican art and guitars hanging from the walls and banners hanging from the ceiling. One wall was decorated with “Biden-Harris” posters.
With ceiling fans running on low speed and Latin pop music playing softly from speakers, Biden walked through the kitchen door, flanked by a Secret Service unit, and into the main dining room.
He shook hands with guests (who had clearly been anticipating his arrival for a long time), blew a kiss and took selfies with others.
The president appeared a little stiffer and slower than the day before, when he had delivered an energetic speech to a national civil rights group.
Biden was forced to cancel a speech at UnidosUS, a Latin American civil rights organization.
The president is trying to revive his popularity among Hispanic voters, as his lead in the polls has shrunk since 2020.
Later on Wednesday, he was seen walking slowly and carefully up the stairs to the plane. He was not wearing a mask.
As he boarded Air Force One, he was heard saying, “Good, I feel good.”
It’s a sudden and grueling end to a trip that should have prompted Biden to return to full campaign momentum after the pause created by the attempted assassination of his rival Donald Trump.
Biden’s re-election bid has already been plagued by growing discord among Democrats in Congress following his disastrous performance in the debate against Donald Trump last month.
And now there’s more turbulence as Air Force One flies through the hot air over Nevada and the president sitting up front takes another unexpected hit.
It feels like this election campaign is chaotic and unpredictable.
Biden’s illness comes amid growing calls for him to withdraw from the election race.
During their separate private meetings with Biden, Schumer and Jeffries expressed deep concern that his candidacy could negatively impact other House and Senate races, US media reported.
Mrs. Pelosi was also quoted as saying in a recent conversation with the president that polls indicate he could harm the Democrats’ chances of winning the House of Representatives and losing the presidency in November, according to CNN.
About two dozen Democratic politicians have called for Biden’s resignation in recent weeks, including California Congressman Adam Schiff, who said he had serious doubts the president could defeat Trump.
He called on Biden to pass the torch.
Mr Schiff said Mr Biden “has been one of the most influential presidents in the history of our country” and that he could “secure his leadership skills” by having another Democrat step forward.
Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries, the top two Democrats in Congress, have met privately with Mr. Biden in recent days and raised concerns among fellow lawmakers that his presence atop the ballot for the November election could harm their chances of seizing power in either chamber of Congress, according to reports by ABC News, the Washington Post and Politico.
“The president told both leaders that he is the party’s nominee, that he intends to win, and that he looks forward to working with both of them to advance his 100-day agenda to help working families,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said after the reports.
A spokesman for Jeffries said: “It was a private conversation that will remain private.” Schumer’s office called the reporting “idle speculation” but added that the Democratic leader “has conveyed his caucus’s views directly to President Biden.”
In an interview with BET, Biden said he felt he couldn’t pass on power with the country so “divided.”
The president also said, for the first time, that he would consider dropping out of the race if one of his doctors said he had a “medical condition.”