Joe Biden tested positive for Covid while on a campaign trip to Las Vegas on Wednesday and is experiencing “general malaise” from the infection, the White House has said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the 81-year-old would fly to his home in Delaware, where he would “self-isolate” and “continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time”.
Footage showed the US President walking slowly off Air Force One, pausing multiple times, before putting a mask on inside the black SUV. He also appeared to need some assistance as he stepped into the car, before the vehicle pulled away.
The Covid diagnosis was first revealed by the CEO of Latino civil rights organisation Unidos US, Janet Murguia, who told guests at the group’s convention in Las Vegas that Mr Biden had sent his regrets and could not appear because he had tested positive for the virus.
Dr Kevin O’Connor, the President’s physician, said in a note that Mr Biden “presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise”.
After the positive Covid test, Mr Biden was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and has taken his first dose, Dr O’Connor added.
As he boarded Air Force One at Harry Reid airport, Mr Biden told reporters traveling with him: “I feel good.”
Mr Biden then appeared to poke fun at his Covid diagnosis, posting on X: “I’m sick”, before following it up with another post that continued: “of Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election. And if you agree, pitch in here.” That post included photos of Musk and Trump, along with a link to a donation site for the Biden campaign.
However, in a previous interview with Ed Gordon of BET News, Mr Biden was asked if there was anything that would make him re-evaluate staying in the race. “If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem,” Mr. Biden said.
This latest round of sickness has mounted pressure on Mr Biden to withdraw from the presidential race over concerns about his mental acuity.
In a major blow to the President, ABC News reported on Wednesday that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told him in a meeting last weekend that it would be better for the country and the Democratic Party if he ended his re-election campaign.
Mr Schumer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the report.
ABC News said the one-on-one meeting took place at Mr Biden’s home in Rehoboth, Delaware, on Saturday.
Earlier on Wednesday, a prominent Democratic member of the US House of Representatives, Adam Schiff of California, said it was time for him to “pass the torch” to someone else.
In a clip from an interview with BET News, broadcast on Wednesday evening, Mr Biden suggested for the first time that he would reconsider running for re-election if doctors told him he had a medical issue.
A nationwide poll by the AP-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, published on Wednesday, found that nearly two thirds of Democrats think Mr Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate.
Concerns about his candidacy have grown since a poor debate performance against Donald Trump in June, which was followed by a shaky Nato summit last week.
Mr Biden made a series of blunders at the summit, referring to Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin”.
Earlier this month, the White House was forced to deny rumours that he has Parkinson’s, after reports emerged that an expert on the disease had visited the President’s doctor this year.
Mr Biden was due to speak at the Unidos event in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Hispanic voters ahead of the November election.
The President earlier visited the Lindo Michoacan restaurant in Las Vegas, where he greeted diners and was scheduled to have an interview with Spanish-language TV network Univision.
Mr Biden has been vaccinated and has had his recommended annual booster dose for Covid.
The vaccines have proven highly effective at limiting serious illness and death from the virus, which killed more than one million people in the US since the pandemic began in 2020.
Paxlovid has been proven to curtail the chances of serious illness and death from Covid when prescribed in the early days of an infection, but has also been associated with rebound infections, where the virus comes back a few days after clearing up.
Mr Biden tested positive for Covid twice in the summer of 2022, when he had a primary case and a rebound case of the virus.
US health officials have reported recent upticks in emergency room visits and hospitalisations from Covid, and a pronounced increase in positive test results in much of the country — particularly the south-west.
The New York Times has reported that Biden has become “more receptive” to arguments in favour of stepping down following recent calls with senior Democrats.
Though Mr Biden did not say he was considering dropping out from the race, he has reportedly been willing to listen to explanations of pessimistic polling data.
The newspaper, citing Democrats briefed on the calls, said the President had called into question the ability of Ms Harris to beat Trump.
More than 20 sitting Democrats have so far openly called on Mr Biden to step down, including Senator Peter Welch of Vermont. Numerous celebrity Democratic donors and fundraisers such as Hollywood actors including George Clooney and Michael Douglas have also joined in calls.
Other senior Democratic figures have remained steadfast in their support for Mr Biden.
Bernie Sanders, 2016 runner-up for Democratic party leader, wrote last week: “Mr Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate. And with an effective campaign that speaks to the needs of working families, he will not only defeat Mr Trump but beat him badly.”