The coronavirus, which President Joe Biden had hoped to put behind him, is rearing its head once more.
On Tuesday, a day after first lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19, Biden entered the White House East Room wearing a black mask to present the Medal of Honor to a Vietnam War Army helicopter pilot.
It was a visible sign of how Jill Biden's diagnoses and the recent increase in cases are reintroducing the epidemic into the discussion. The virus also hampers the president's planned trip to Asia later this week for a G-20 summit with leaders of some of the world's most powerful economies. Following the G-20 meeting in India, Biden is slated to visit Vietnam to examine ways to strengthen US-Vietnam relations.
The White House has refused to say if Biden's trip will be cancelled if he tests positive.
"Last night, he tested negative. Today he tested negative. That is what is important. The President doesn't have any COVID-19 symptoms," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Even if Biden does not catch COVID, the late-summer surge in cases is inconvenient. It's a throwback to a time that many Americans want to forget, and it comes as Biden focuses on rebuilding the country.
Furthermore, any focus on Biden's health may serve as a reminder to Americans of what is likely his greatest re-election vulnerability: his age. More than 70% of Americans polled by The Wall Street Journal from August 24 to August 30 believe Biden, 80, is too old to run for re-election. Just under half of those polled agreed with the 77-year-old frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Donald Trump.
Biden has previously been diagnosed with COVID. In July 2022, he was infected with the virus. In August 2022, Jill Biden tested positive.
The White House is emphasizing, as it did last year, that testing, vaccines, and treatments have put the country in a fundamentally different place than it was at the onset of the pandemic, which no longer interrupts daily life.
"In the fall, we will be in a very strong position to handle COVID-19," Jean-Pierre explained. When the new vaccination becomes ready later this month, the administration will encourage Americans to acquire it. Biden is wearing a mask when he is close to individuals indoors, but the White House COVID protocols have not changed. Before getting near Biden, aides were tested.
