President Joe Biden postponed a planned speech at the UnidosUS annual conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19.
The head of a Latino advocacy group announced his status to attendees who had been waiting a long time to hear the president speak.
“Unfortunately, I was just on the phone with President Biden and he expressed his deep disappointment that he will not be able to be with us this afternoon. The president, as we all know, has been attending a number of events and has tested positive for COVID-19,” Unidos US President Jeanette Murguía told the audience.
The moment Biden’s positive COVID-19 test was announced at the UnidosUS conference in Las Vegas, where crowds were gathered waiting for his speech to begin 90 minutes earlier. pic.twitter.com/OPOl14QE6b
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 17, 2024
The event went ahead in the president’s absence.
“I’m so grateful that he wanted to be here,” Murguia said. “I gave him a great introduction and reminded him of all he’s done for our community.”
The president’s active campaign is likely to be slowed by his diagnosis, but he is currently said to be experiencing only “mild symptoms”.
Biden, who has attended more than 20 campaign events and given multiple interviews since his debate performance last month, visited a Las Vegas restaurant just hours before his test results came back, according to local station 3News.
The 81-year-old, who overcame a mild case of COVID-19 in July 2022, spoke to Univision ahead of the event, according to the Associated Press.
“This afternoon, I tested positive for COVID-19, but I am feeling well and appreciate the encouragement I’ve received,” Biden said in a statement to X. “I will continue to isolate myself until I recover, and in the meantime, I will continue to get the job done for the American people.”