Biden, looking to bolster Latino support, is forced to cancel speech after Covid diagnosis

Facing calls to bow out of the presidential race, President Joe Biden was primed Wednesday to speak to a usually supportive audience of Latino leaders and community organizers, but minutes before his speech, it was announced that he had tested positive for Covid.

Biden’s appearance at the UnidosUS conference in Las Vegas was already delayed when Janet Murguía, the group's president, looking a little teary-eyed, appeared onstage and announced that the president had called her to say that he could not make it.

“The president has been at many events, as we all know, and he just tested positive for Covid,” she said to audible groans in the audience. “He obviously didn’t want to put anyone at risk and said to tell my folks that we’re not going to get rid of him that quickly.”

Phoenix City Councilman Carlos Galindo-Elvira, who had snagged a front-row seat for the speech Wednesday at the national UnidosUS conference in Las Vegas, said the virus is not a sign that Biden should withdraw from the presidential race, as some Democrats have been calling for.

"The president showed leadership and stayed true to the work he’s done on fighting Covid. I’m glad he called Janet Murguía and let her know personally, and I’m glad that he followed the precautions that he always touted at the height of the pandemic."

Sure he was disappointed that he didn't get a close-up view of Biden, "but that doesn't mean I'm not going to have a front-row seat when history is made and he's re-elected," Galindo-Elvira said.

Biden’s scheduled speech — officially a White House event and not a campaign event — came just hours after a prominent House member, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called on Biden to step down amid growing questions about Biden's age,