United States: Biden tests positive for Covid-19, pressure for his withdrawal increases

After testing positive for Covid-19, US President Joe Biden assured on Wednesday that he was “fine”, but this new announcement risks fuelling concerns about his age and health which have already sparked calls for him to withdraw from the race for the White House.

Democratic heavyweights have tried in recent days to convince the president to pass the torch, in the face of unfavorable polls, several American media reported on Wednesday. The announcement of his Covid-19 infection comes at a time when Joe Biden is playing for his political survival since his disastrous performance at the end of June during his debate with Donald Trump, which raised a wave of questions about his physical and mental capacities.

To give up ?

The White House has insisted the president is “fully vaccinated” and will “continue to fully perform his duties” while in quarantine as he campaigns to woo Hispanic voters in Nevada.

Asked by BET on Tuesday what might make him consider throwing in the towel, the 81-year-old presidential candidate replied: “If I had a medical problem that came up, if somebody, doctors came to me and said, ‘You have this problem.'” It’s the first time Biden has opened the door to the idea of ​​abandoning his campaign.

About twenty elected members of the House and one senator had so far urged Joe Biden to throw in the towel.
Calls for the president to step down, muted after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump on Saturday, have resumed with heavyweights, according to media reports.

Internal pressures

According to CNN reporters, influential Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, recently told Joe Biden that he could “destroy the Democrats’ chances of winning” the legislative elections, citing unfavorable polls. The Democratic leader’s team responded to the network that she had been in California since Friday and had not spoken to Joe Biden since.

According to ABC News, powerful Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has “strongly argued that it would be better for Biden, for the Democratic Party and for the country if he were to step down.” The Democratic frontrunner’s team didn’t really deny it, simply stressing that “unless ABC’s source is Sen. Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden,” the information was “pure speculation.”

The New York Times and the Washington Post reported on meetings between Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer, as well as with the leader of his party’s elected representatives in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, during which the two elected representatives reportedly expressed “concerns within their ranks that Biden could deprive them of a majority.” White House spokesman Andrew Bates responded to AFP, saying that the president had “told both officials that he was the Democratic Party’s nominee” and that he planned to “win, looking forward to working” with them. CNN gave the same response.