Biden news: Ex-VP ‘getting Covid test today’ as Trump diagnosis throws election into chaos
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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will get tested for coronavirus later today after sharing the stage with President Donald Trump during the presidential debate on Tuesday.
It comes just hours after the US president announced he and his wife, Melania Trump, have tested positive for coronavirus and are in quarantine.
Mr Trump’s diagnosis also comes during a crucial period before the November elections, with both his and Mr Biden’s campaigns thrown into a tailspin.
Questions have been raised over whether the former vice-president should suspend his campaign while his rival remains in quarantine for the next 15 days.
But the development settles the focus of the campaign right where Mr Biden has put his emphasis for months: on Trump's response to a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people in the US. And for the short term, it's grounded Mr Trump in isolation, denying him the large public rallies that fuel his campaign.
“From now until we get to the election, attention is going to be back where it should be: on Covid, the president's response and the impact — and on health care,” said Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright, a Biden supporter. “This proves our candidate was right all along.”
Karen Finney, another Democratic consultant and top adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, said the immediate focus should be on the Trumps' health. But she added the development proves that not even Mr Trump, no matter his talents for dictating headlines and framing events, can control a pandemic.
“It's a reminder that the American presidency is bigger than any one person, given the reach and depth this news has,” she said, noting that a health scare for a president not only dominates headlines but can rattle financial markets.
Trump tweeted Friday that he'd begin quarantining and recovery. He's cancelled his weekend itinerary in Wisconsin, one of the three Great Lakes states that he won by less than one percentage point in 2016 on his way to the presidency.
Americans have already begun voting in several states, meanwhile, and tens of millions will receive absentee mail-in ballots or be eligible for in-person early voting in the coming weeks.
Additional reporting by AP
Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s liveblog covering all the latest developments on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign.
Joe Biden ‘needs immediate Covid test’ after sharing stage with president
CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr Sanjay Gupta has said the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden needs to be tested for coronavirus immediately as he was on the same stage as President Donald Trump on Tuesday night.
Mr Gupta said: “He does need to be immediately tested. He has come in proximity to someone that has Covid.”
Mr Biden is 77 years old, putting him at higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Should Joe Biden suspend his campaign while rival remains in quarantine?
As the president’s Covid-19 diagnoses throws his campaign into chaos, questions have been raised about how it might impact Joe Biden’s campaign.
The Democratic presidential nominee’s campaign launched a door-knocking campaign this week, with hundreds of volunteers set to hit the streets in Nevada, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.
Political analyst Jeff Greenfield asked on Twitter: “Does Biden suspend his campaign as Trump is quarantined? Is the White House failure to observe protocols a reason for Biden to continue his campaigning?”
Downing Street pollster James Johnson told Times Radio that Mr Biden may struggle to get media time and “conventional issues in the campaign… may well be drowned out” by news of Mr Trump’s diagnosis.
Biden shatters fundraising record
Joe Biden has smashed his fundraising record once again in September, topping his already-massive haul in August.
My colleague Chris Riotta reports from New York:
Biden campaign celebrates record fundraising haul while mocking Trump’s ‘tired and angry’ debate performance
Democratic nominee’s presidential campaign raises nearly $4m during final hour of contentious debate
Trump mocks Biden (again) for wearing masks days before testing positive for coronavirus
The President once again mocked Joe Biden for wearing masks regularly in public during the presidential debate on Tuesday night, just days before he tested positive for Covid-19.
“I don’t wear masks like him,” Mr Trump said, referring to his Democratic rival. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from me, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
Mr Biden is careful to observe coronavirus rules, running his campaign with small, socially-distanced crowds and regularly wearing a mask.
Jim Carrey and Maya Rudolph team up to impersonate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live
The first look at Jim Carrey impersonating Joe Biden alongside Maya Rudolph as running mate Kamala Harris has been unveiled for Saturday Night Live.
Ellie Harrison reports that the promo for the skit has already received mixed reactions on social media.
Jim Carrey’s transformation into Joe Biden for SNL sketch divides opinion
Promo for comedy skit has already divided opinion
Bernie Sanders to resume in-person campaigning to promote Joe Biden
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is set to return to in-person campaigning for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic it in March to back Joe Biden.
Mr Sanders will head to the battleground states of New Hampshire and Michigan, starting with a socially-distanced outdoor rally in Lebanon, New Hampshire, on Saturday.
He ended his presidential primary campaign in April, endorsing Mr Biden days later in an effort to promote party unity. Some of Mr Sanders’ top advisers and supported later formed joint task forces with their counterparts from the former vice president’s campaign to reach agreements on major policy issues reflected in the Democratic Party platform.
Mr Biden does not agree with some of Mr Sanders’ most progressive ideas, including a fully government-funded healthcare under a “Medicare for All” plan supported by the latter,
Mr Sanders told ABC’s The View this week, referring to “Medicare for All”: “He does not agree with me, though I wish he did.”
Nonetheless, the Vermont senator spent months staging virtual town halls and other events around the US on Mr Biden’s behalf, determined to get Donald Trump out of the White House as he argues the current president poses an existential threat to American democracy.
Reporting by AP
‘I guess wearing a mask isn’t so stupid after all, now is it?’: Biden supporters hit back at Trump for mocking mask-wearing
Supporters of Joe Biden are mocking the president after Donald Trump repeatedly denigrated his opponent for regularly wearing a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump campaign pushes Facebook ads with doctored image of Biden
Dozens of ads featuring doctored images of Joe Biden wearing earbuds have been published on Facebook and Instagram by Donald Trump’s campaign as the president pushes an earpiece conspiracy in a bid to cast doubt over his opponent.
The fake images have the question: “Who’s in Joe’s ear?” plastered over, reported Alex Woodward. Get the full story below:
Trump campaign pushes Facebook ads promoting earpiece conspiracy with doctored image of Biden
Adviser fumes at reporter as campaign under fire for amplifying claims: ‘I don’t even know if it’s our ad’
Images are being shared on social media showing the Trump family failing to wear masks during the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump earlier this week.
There has been reporting suggesting they refused to do so when asked by a doctor, even though rules mandated they should have been.
Jill Biden, Joe Biden’s wife, was wearing a mask.
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