Biden tests positive for Covid in fresh blow to campaign

An audience member holds a sign calling on President Joe Biden to "pass the torch" during a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School on July 05, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin

The diagnosis comes at a "critical juncture in the election"

(Image credit: Scott Olson / Getty Images)

published 18 July 2024

What happened

President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, shortly after saying he would consider dropping his controversial reelection bid if presented with a "medical condition." The White House said the president was "experiencing mild symptoms" of the virus but would still carry out his full duties while self-isolating at his Delaware home.

The Covid diagnosis comes amid growing calls from Democrats for Biden to drop out of the 2024 race owing to concerns about his age and mental acuity. In an interview with BET's Ed Gordon that aired Wednesday, Biden said he would reconsider his bid for another term "if I had some medical condition that emerged" or "if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem."

The comments are the "latest in a series of shifting explanations" about what it would take for him to end his campaign, The New York Times said. It marked the "first time Biden opened the door to a theoretical medical condition" pushing him from the race, Politico said.

The president has had his first dose of the antiviral drug Paxlovid and said in a post on X yesterday that he was "feeling good." But the Covid diagnosis put a "screeching halt" to a "key campaign event meant to shore up support with Latino voters," said CNN, and comes at a "critical juncture in the election." Biden is stuck "behind closed doors at a time when Democratic lawmakers have been clamoring to see him out front."

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.