US President Joe Biden, who has been making a string of gaffes and setbacks for several weeks, has tested positive for Covid, the White House announced in a statement on Wednesday, specifying that he had “mild symptoms” and that his temperature was “normal”.
The 81-year-old president, who is “fully vaccinated,” will observe a period of isolation in his Delaware stronghold, the White House said, as doubts about the leader’s physical and mental abilities to campaign resurface after calls from Democrats for him to step down.
The news comes as the 81-year-old Democrat is campaigning in Nevada. “I feel great,” he told reporters as he boarded the presidential plane, Air Force One.
An increasingly complicated duel against Trump
Earlier Wednesday, one of his most prominent supporters, influential Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, called on him to withdraw from the presidential race. Biden responded that he would reassess his candidacy if he were diagnosed with a “medical” problem.
Last week, American actor George Clooney, a fervent Democrat, also called on Joe Biden to make way for another candidate to try to beat Donald Trump.
The former Republican president, a candidate for re-election, escaped an assassination attempt last Saturday during a rally he was holding in Pennsylvania. A sniper opened fire in his direction, slightly wounding him in the ear. The images of Donald Trump, part of his face covered in blood, raising his fist in defiance, escorted by the Secret Service quickly went around the world, boosting his popularity rating in the process.
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