Joe Biden – Demands for withdrawal and Corona are taking their toll on the president

Things are not looking good for Joe Biden: After a brief respite, the US President is facing new calls to withdraw from the campaign for a second term. At the same time, his health is giving him trouble. After a positive corona test, the 81-year-old had to cancel a campaign trip in the state of Nevada on Wednesday. The Democrat retreated to his private home in Rehoboth, Delaware, with mild symptoms.

After the assassination attempt on Republican Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the weekend, the debate about Biden’s candidacy was briefly pushed into the background. Now it is back.

Biden does not want to drop out of the presidential race

Following several other party colleagues, prominent Democratic member of the House of Representatives Adam Schiff called on the 81-year-old to drop out of the presidential race. The two top Democrats in the US Congress, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, warned Biden last week against sticking to his presidential bid, according to consistent media reports.

Biden has so far rejected all calls for withdrawal and made it clear that he has no intention of giving up.

The Democrat is under massive pressure from within his own ranks due to his advanced age and doubts about his mental state. Since a disastrous performance in a televised debate against his opponent Trump, various Democratic representatives have called on him to drop out of the presidential race in recent weeks. Many others have publicly expressed great concern about his election chances.

Prominent calls for withdrawal

Schiff, who is running for a Senate seat, said he had serious concerns about whether Biden could defeat Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in November. Biden has had major successes, but it was time to make way for someone else. “There is just too much at stake,” he warned.

Schiff is a confidant of the former Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. Both have their constituencies in the most populous state of California. Pelosi continues to have great influence in the party. The powerful Democrat recently said in an interview: “It is up to the president to decide whether he will run.” She added: “We all encourage him to make that decision. Time is running out.” The fact that she expressly refrained from expressing her support for Biden made a lot of headlines.

Reports: Top Democrats in Congress warned Joe Biden

Biden’s persistence is also apparently causing concern at the highest level. Both Schumer, majority leader in the Senate, and Jeffries, minority leader in the House of Representatives, had separate talks with Biden last week and warned that Biden’s persistence with his presidential bid could lead to the Democrats losing control of both chambers of Congress.

The Washington Post and ABC News reported this, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Schumer’s office said in response to the reports on Wednesday that the senator had conveyed his group’s views to Biden. As long as the source is not Schumer or Biden, reporting remains in the realm of speculation.

In addition to the presidency, many seats in parliament will also be reallocated in the November election. The entire House of Representatives will be re-elected, and a third of the seats in the Senate are up for election. The Democrats fear that the Republicans could control both houses of Congress and the White House after the election. Several parliamentarians are worried that the lack of support for Biden could also cost them re-election.

Positive corona test and election campaign canceled

Biden, who wants to be confirmed in office after the election in November, was in Las Vegas on Wednesday to canvass for votes, especially among the Hispanic population. There he first stopped at a Mexican restaurant to meet voters. He then wanted to appear at a conference of an important civil rights organization that represents the interests of the Hispanic population. But that didn’t happen. Another appointment also had to be canceled.

The president of the organization UnidosUS, Janet Murguía, said that Biden called her and told her that he could not come. Shortly afterwards, the White House confirmed that Biden had tested positive for the virus after the first event. Confirmation of the test result by a PCR test is still pending, it said. Biden has respiratory problems, a runny nose and a cough. He has received his first dose of the Covid drug Paxlovid.

Joe Biden tested positive two years ago

Biden last tested positive for the virus in the summer of two years ago. He was also treated with the drug Paxlovid at the time and tested positive for the coronavirus again just a few days after the end of his corona isolation. It was a “relapse” that occurs in rare cases in patients treated with Paxlovid, it was said at the time. According to the White House, Biden had a mild course of the disease at the time. Biden is in the risk group because of his advanced age.

Nevada is a so-called swing state that cannot be firmly assigned to either the Democrats or the Republicans. Swing states are politically hotly contested, which is why the election campaigns of candidates or applicants for the presidency often focus on these states.