Biden announced he tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday ahead of a planned speech at the UnidosUS conference in Las Vegas. He canceled the event, and the White House said the president is “experiencing mild symptoms” and “will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.” News networks showed Biden walking slowly up the stairs of Air Force One, not wearing a mask.
Amid the diagnosis, Democrats’ rebellion against Biden intensified as the party’s congressional leaders lobbied successfully to delay his official nomination by a week. Bowing to the pressure, top Democratic National Committee officials announced Wednesday that the virtual roll call will now take place during the first week of August, instead of late July (NBC News). Still, a group of House Democrats that was prepared to publicly denounce an effort to nominate Biden before the convention has been swayed to stand down for now (Politico).
Privately, The New York Times reports, Biden has become more receptive to hearing arguments about why he should drop his re-election bid, after both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told him they were deeply concerned about his prospects.
The president said in an interview Wednesday that he would only reevaluate his decision to run for a second term if a doctor told him he had a medical condition. A new AP-NORC poll shows that 65 percent of Democrats said that Biden “should withdraw and allow his party to select a different candidate.”