WASHINGTON (AP) — COVID-19 symptoms left President Joe Biden with a raspy voice and cough as he met Friday via videoconference with his top economic team. But the president tried to strike a reassuring tone, declaring, “I feel much better than I sound.”
Later Friday, White House officials told reporters that Biden was working more than eight hours a day. His appetite hadn’t diminished — with Biden showing off an empty plate with some crumbs when speaking with his advisers — and he signed bills into law and took part in his daily intelligence briefings, albeit via phone.
“He’s still doing the job of the president,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “That does not end.”
It was all part of a diligently choreographed effort by the administration to depict a commander-in-chief who had not relinquished his day job, despite testing positive for COVID-19 Thursday and being sent into isolation at the White House residence.
As he beamed into a virtual meeting from the Treaty Room, Biden took off a mask and sipped water as he began discussing the decline in gas prices in recent weeks. Reporters were allowed to view a few minutes of the proceedings and, when they asked how Biden was feeling, he flashed a thumb’s up — although he was audibly hoarse and coughed a handful of times.
https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-teachable-moment-a3013aa63e6efa4d8