US elections: Resisting calls to quit, ‘hard-lucky’ Biden, 82, down with COVID-19
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Gaffe-prone US President Joe Biden, who is fighting advanced aging symptoms and resisting intensifying pressure NOT to contest the November 5 elections against his predecessor-cum-potential successor Donald Trump, got the latest blow when doctors diagnosed him with COVID-19 on Wednesday and urged him to take rest.
The incumbent President’s hopes of counter-programming the Republican National Convention (RNC) were dashed when he learned he had contracted COVID-19. It forced him to cancel an appearance before a key Latino advocacy group, the media reported on Thursday.
Although his COVID-19 symptoms are mild, the diagnosis has both removed him from the campaign trail and thrust his poor health back into the spotlight. This is all at a critical moment when he is trying desperately to prove to his burgeoning crowd of critics that concerns over his age, 82, and mental acuity are overblown.
Among the latest to join the “Exit Biden” bandwagon is Adam Schiff, the California Congressman and Democratic candidate in that state’s US Senate race. He has restarted the drumbeat of allies calling for Biden to exit the race, urging him to “pass the torch.”
The media reported that, besides former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also warned President Biden in private conversations last week about the risk his continued candidacy posed to the Democratic Party as a whole.
However, an adamant Biden told the leaders he was the nominee of the party and planned to win, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.
The President stoked the melodrama even more by suggesting in a Tuesday interview that he would consider dropping out of the race if fresh health issues emerged. Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders, a defender of the President, conceded in an interview with the New Yorker that Biden had trouble completing sentences.
Even worse, Biden’s struggles played out against scenes from the GOP convention, where Republican candidate Donald Trump triumphantly appeared on stage for a walk-through, sporting a bandaged right ear from the unsuccessful assassination attempt he survived last weekend, the media reported.
Trump’s defiant, fist-pumping response to the shooting proved instantly iconic, galvanizing voices of doubt within the Republican Party behind his cause. On Tuesday night, former primary foes Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis took to the stage in Milwaukee to lay out their argument for supporting Trump’s candidacy.
The events contributed to a growing sense of two campaigns headed in opposite directions: one on the rise and the other in turmoil.
Public opinion polls underscore reason for Democrats to be concerned.
Nearly two-thirds of Biden’s party say he should withdraw from the race, according to an Associated Press-NORC poll released hours before Biden’s COVID-19 diagnosis. Just three in 10 Democrats are extremely or very confident in his ability to serve effectively as President in a probable second term.
The President went to tape a radio interview with Univision on Wednesday but left it feeling unwell. A COVID test confirmed his infection and he quickly spirited back to the Las Vegas airport to return to his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
The only positive news for the President was that his symptoms were mild, according to the White House: a runny nose, cough, and – appropriately enough “general malaise.”
