LAST UPDATE | 18 Jul

JOE BIDEN HAS cancelled campaign events after testing positive for Covid-19.

The US president is experiencing “mild symptoms” after testing positive for Covid during a campaign trip to Las Vegas this week, the White House said.

Biden was going to travel to his vacation home in Delaware “where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The President’s sickness comes as another senior Democrat has come out to say he should stand aside from his re-election campaign. 

Californian representative Adam Schiff said in a statement that it was the time for Biden to “pass the torch”. 

“And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election,” Schiff said. 

Schiff’s statement is likely to be closely monitored due to his proximity former Nancy Pelosi. It was Pelosi who revived questions about Biden post-debate when she said recently that “it’s up to the president” to decide what to do 

This morning, CNN is reporting that Pelosi privately told President Biden in a recent conversation that polling shows he cannot defeat Donald Trump and may destroy Democrats’ chances of retaining control of the House of Representatives. 

 In response to Schiff’s comments, the Biden campaign pointed to what it called “extensive support” for him and his re-election bid from members of Congress in key swing states, as well as from the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses.

Covid-19

The US President gave media the thumbs up from his limousine and said “I feel good” as he cut short his campaign trip following the diagnosis.

His campaign has also sought to make light of the diagnosis, posting on social media that he was “sick” before pivoting to a call to fight back against tech billionaire endorsements of Trump by the likes of Tesla and X owner Elon Musk.

The White House said he was suffering from a runny nose, cough and “general malaise,” was taking Covid medication, and was flying straight to isolation at his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware.

The diagnosis came hours after the release of comments by Biden in an interview conducted earlier this week, in which he said he could step aside as a presidential candidate “if I had some medical condition that emerged.”

It was also the latest development over a dramatic few days in the already frenetic and polarized White House race that saw his rival Donald Trump survive an assassination at a campaign rally of his own.

Biden has been fighting for political survival since a disastrous debate against Trump nearly three weeks ago, in which his tired and confused appearance sparked concerns about his age.

‘I feel good’

Biden later leaned out of his limousine, dubbed the Beast, as he arrived at a Las Vegas airport to give the thumbs up.

“Good,” he said to the press as he walked to Air Force One without a mask. “I feel good.”

Janet Murguia, the president of the Unidos union for Latino workers, told the crowd about the diagnosis shortly before the White House announcement.

“I was just on the phone with President Biden, and he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon,” she said.

The furor over Biden’s health is now set to go into overdrive, with a growing number of Democrats calling on him to step aside.

Asked what could make him rethink his presidential bid, Biden told the Black media outlet BET in an interview taped Tuesday in Las Vegas: “If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if the doctors came and said ‘you’ve got this problem, that problem.’”

Around 20 House Democrats and one senator have now called on Biden to leave the White House race.

Most polls show Biden trailing the election in a tight race with Trump.

- With reporting by Press Association and Rónán Duffy