President Joe Biden has canceled his expected attendance at an event in Las Vegas organized by Unidos, one of the largest Latino organizations in the United States. The president was scheduled to close the association day around 1:30 p.m. local time. After a delay of almost two hours, Unidos President Janet Murgía took the stage to announce that Biden would not be present. “The president has just informed me that he has tested positive for COVID and that it is best that he take the necessary precautions for everyone’s safety,” Murgía said. The White House assures that Biden has mild symptoms and will travel to his home in Delaware.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre has said Biden will self-quarantine but continue to carry out “all of his responsibilities.” “I feel good,” the president told reporters before boarding Air Force One, which would take him back East. He was not wearing a mask.
Dr. Kevin O'Connor said in a statement that the president has a runny nose and a dry cough. The president is taking an antiviral drug called Paxlovid to treat the illness. “He felt fine at his first event of the day, but because his symptoms did not improve, a Covid test was administered and the results were positive,” the doctor explained.
The number of Covid cases has increased in 45 states in the country this past summer. The increase has been particularly sharp in the western states. Seven out of ten infections have been caused by the KP variant.
The president delivered a speech Tuesday to the African-American community gathered at the NAACP conference in Las Vegas. Before taking the stage, Biden offered an interview to Black Entertainment, where he was asked again if he would drop out of the race after his disastrous performance in the debate and the criticism it has brought him. The president said he would consider it if a health issue arose.[Lo haría] “If a doctor told me I had this problem or that problem…” Biden says in a clip of the conversation. The full interview will air tonight.
Biden tested positive on what is his second day of activity in Nevada, one of seven crucial states in the race, where the Latino population is nearly 30%. In the morning, the president visited a supermarket in the city. His campaign also planned to take him to a Lindo Michoacán Mexican restaurant in East Las Vegas, a predominantly Latino area. During the tour, Biden shook hands and hugged several people and supporters.
Surprise and disappointment in the community
The announcement at the conference drew surprised faces and gestures of disappointment from attendees. The president had been expected to announce that some undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens will be able to begin a process to regularize their immigration status in August. It was the president's latest attempt to stem the loss of support among Latinos, a decisive sector of the electorate.
Donald Trump has gained ground in the demographics. Biden has lost 20% of support among African Americans and Hispanics since 2021. Some national polls They even show a connection between the two candidates among potential voters in these groups, despite the fact that the current president received 28% Latino support in 2020.
President Biden has promised to slow down after the onslaught that Donald Trump survived. However, some in Congress believe the president needs to go on the offensive if he wants to win. “Your administration needs to be more aggressive in carrying out the policies of this administration. He’s the leader, but the Cabinet is also responsible for pushing them forward, they need to be tougher,” said Alexandra Moya, 49, originally from Cleveland, Ohio. Moya is registered as a Republican, but insists that as a Puerto Rican, she could never vote for Donald Trump because of his treatment of the territory.
The Biden administration has taken steps to maintain this essential support in the fall. In June, the president announced a program to provide papers to children and partners of citizens who have been in the United States for more than a decade in an irregular situation. According to White House calculations, this measure could benefit half a million adults and some 50,000 minors who are already in the territory. The authorities assure that these people can begin the process without abandoning their families.
The administration has also committed to expediting the processing of work visas for young people educated at U.S. universities. This measure includes those with protection from deportation, known as DACA, and Dreamers. The State Department recently changed its public guidance to allow students to add their college degrees to the visa application process, as long as the work is performed in the United States.
Biden is trying to defend his record with Hispanics. The administration estimates it has created 5 million jobs for Latinos, a third of the 15 million jobs it created in its three years in the White House. The figure has been highlighted in an election cycle in which the economy is more important than immigration for those who identify as Hispanic.