Did President Biden’s Positive COVID-19 Test Just Seal His Political Fate?

President Biden tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, forcing him to cancel a campaign event in Las Vegas. This after he stated earlier in the day that he would drop out of the presidential race if he had a “medical condition.” His COVID-19 symptoms are mild and would likely not constitute such a “condition,” but the juxtaposition of the two is interesting with regard to their timing.

Here’s why: Rep. Adam Schiff, one of the top Democrats in the country, called on Mr. Biden yesterday to “pass the torch” and step aside from the race. In a new poll, nearly two-thirds of Democrats agree that Mr. Biden should withdraw.

The Washington Post is also reporting that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, in separate private meetings with Mr. Biden last week, told him that his continued candidacy imperils their party’s ability to control either chamber of Congress next year. And former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly told the president last week that she and other Democratic lawmakers worry that he’s dragging down the party.

Last night, the New York Times reported that Mr. Biden has become more receptive to such arguments, though he has not given any indication that he is changing his mind about staying in the race. He has also asked questions about how Vice President Kamala Harris could win.

“The country is spiraling out of control”

Many Democrats apparently want to replace their nominee, while Republicans came shockingly close to losing theirs.

After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump last Saturday, Israeli Special Operations veteran Aaron Cohen told reporters that if the former president had not turned his head at the moment a shot was fired at him, he would have been killed. According to Cohen, “The fact that he just happened to be turned this way with that shot coming in is what saved his life.”

However, while Mr. Trump was spared, a man in the stands died while protecting his family; two other shooting victims were hospitalized.

Johns Hopkins University political science professor Robert Lieberman explains in Foreign Affairs that four features help cause democratic crises: political polarization, conflict over who belongs in the political community, high and growing economic inequality, and excessive executive power. He adds, “What makes the last four years different is that all of them are present.”

Unsurprisingly, following last Saturday’s shooting, four in five Americans polled said “the country is spiraling out of control.”

“They did not know how to blush”

I was recently struck by God’s description of his people in Jeremiah 6: “They did not know how to blush” (v. 15). The verse reminded me of Mark Twain’s observation, “Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.”

The text comes in the midst of cataclysmic chaos for Israel as the Lord warns them that “disaster looms out of the north, and great destruction” (v. 1). The reason is that the nation’s moral state is horrific: “As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me” (v. 7).

But the people are intentionally ignorant of their plight: “From the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (vv. 13–14).

Then comes the verse that impressed me: “Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush” (v. 15). As a result, their nation would soon fall (vv. 22–26).

If this could happen to God’s “chosen people,” what of us?

“Ask for the ancient paths”

The presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was held three weeks ago. While most assumed it would be consequential, who among us could have imagined that morning that it would upend the race so abruptly? And who of us a week ago could have imagined the attempted assassination of Mr. Trump?

Who of us knows what tomorrow will bring?

When things are “spiraling out of control,” it is vital that we heed God’s call:

“Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16).

Note the order of these four imperatives:

“Stand by the roads”—stop what you are doing.
“Look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is”—seek biblical truth for your life and day.
“Walk in it”—follow the path it sets out with holistic obedience.
“Find rest for your souls”—look for relief from anxiety for your inmost being.

In a chaotic world, God’s people don’t have to settle for chaos in our souls. Corrie ten Boom was right: “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look at God, you’ll be at rest.”

Will you “be at rest” today?

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.