LAS VEGAS (NewsNation) — President Joe Biden canceled a Las Vegas campaign appearance Wednesday after being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the White House.
The White House said Biden will return to Delaware to self-isolate and “continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.”
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said in a note that Biden “presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise.” After the positive COVID-19 test, Biden was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and has taken his first dose, O’Connor said.
“I feel good,” Biden told reporters while on his way to Air Force One.
Biden was slated to speak at the Unidos event in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Hispanic voters ahead of the November election.
The president had previously been at the Original Lindo Michoacan restaurant in Las Vegas, where he was greeting diners and was scheduled to have an interview with Univision.
Just hours before the diagnosis was disclosed, Biden signaled that he would only reevaluate his decision to run for a second term if a doctor told him he had a medical condition.
BET News’ Ed Gordon questioned the president, amid ongoing calls for him to drop out and lingering questions over his age and mental fitness, on whether there is anything that would cause him to change his mind about staying in the race.
“If I had some medical condition that emerged. If doctors came to me and said, ‘You’ve got this problem, that problem,’” Biden replied. “But I made a serious mistake in the whole debate.”
This is a developing story; refresh for updates.
