First lady Jill Biden’s COVID-19 diagnosis renewed attention on President Joe Biden’s age and the pandemic-era policies he championed in the run-up to next year’s election.
While the first lady’s COVID-19 case is mild, her diagnosis casts a cloud of uncertainty over the physical condition of 80-year-old Joe Biden, who spent part of the weekend with her in Rehoboth Beach. He has tested negative several times, according to White House, and continues to stick to his old schedule, however, the diagnosis has raised the “relevance” of the president’s fitness and may simply “worry the electorate involved because of his age,” according to Costas Panagopoulos, chair of political science at Northeastern University.
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However, the diagnosis, which coincides with a national surge in cases, is a double-edged sword, he warned, reminding voters of former President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic and may simply “alarm those who perceived Trump’s reaction as poor. “”
“The last thing Trump needs to say about the election campaign is COVID, but he may have no choice if cases continue to rise,” he told the Washington Examiner.
As for Biden, John Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College and a former Republican aide, said that “right now, the president is healthy. “
“The effect of COVID will depend on its severity,” he said. At the current level, this is not a primary political issue, however, an increase, like the one we saw in early 2021, may simply pose big political issues. “problems. “
Democratic strategist Stefan Hankin said the fact that about 95% of the population has “some form” of immunity to COVID-19 is an “advantage,” but added that any optimism about the virus, which disproportionately kills older people, may simply be ill-timed if transformed. Joe Biden suffered from the coronavirus last summer.
“Views on vaccines and fitness seem entrenched, and it’s hard to see how the Republican Party can use the spread of the virus to its advantage, given its positions beyond minimization and ignorance,” he said. “We shouldn’t be surprised if, in some way, we see classified ads linking the ‘border crisis’ to the rise in COVID cases. “
Regardless, Republicans expanded Biden’s resolve to follow the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and resume Tuesday wearing a mask inside a Medal of Honor rite at the White House, even though he ditched his mask for his remarks and didn’t put it back on. Awarding the medal. His complaint coincides with the scrutiny, both in the electoral campaign and in Congress, of the resolution adopted by some companies and localities to reimpose the obligation to wear masks in reaction to the recent outbreak of COVID-19.
“Mask and vaccine mandates are making a comeback as Joe Biden’s federal government tries to take charge of his life (again),” a message sent Tuesday to supporters of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R-FL) crusade. “As president, Ron DeSantis Never let Deep State bureaucrats lock you up. “
After a public elementary school in the Washington, D. C. areaOn Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say, “Never again. “
Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday after the first lady’s diagnosis, then returned Tuesday morning and complained of no symptoms other than coughing, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The country’s longest-serving president will be evaluated up to and after his scheduled departure Thursday for the G20 convention in New Delhi, India, Jean-Pierre said.
But the press secretary was angered by repeated questions about the speed of his checks, could not identify the type of control he was accepting, and refused to speculate on contingency plans for overseas in the event of a positive check.
Jean-Pierre also defended Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination program despite skepticism, as this year’s vaccines likely wouldn’t be approved by the Food and Drug Administration and CDC until later this month. RealClearPolitics found that the president’s approval score for the virus dropped to a net positive average of 6 percentage points, with 49% approval and 43% disapproval, after he pledged in 2020 to “stop the virus. “
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“As fall approaches, we now have more equipment and systems to help communities this fall and winter, adding and updating vaccines that will be available in mid-September, at-home COVID testing and that will be effective. treatments, which can reduce the threat of serious illness, hospitalization and death,” the press secretary told reporters on Tuesday. “We will encourage, as I said before, Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, in addition to their annual Flu and RSV Vaccine. “
“We know those vaccines work. We know that when other people keep up with their vaccine, it works,” he said. “We are in a very smart position to tackle COVID-19 in the fall, and we will continue to pay attention to the experts as we move forward. “