Biden Tests Positive For COVID
Handout/Reuters
We ran the numbers: There are 4,236 news articles covering this topic. 38% (1,590) are left-leaning, 40% (1,686) are centrist, and 23% (960) are right-leaning.
President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID on Thursday and is currently in isolation. While left-leaning articles highlight critiques and support of the Biden administration’s handling of the COVID pandemic, right-leaning articles contrast the media’s response to Biden and Trump's positive COVID tests.
A left-leaning article from The Washington Post focuses on how Biden’s positive test acts as a litmus test for his handling of the COVID pandemic: a quick and healthy recovery will provide support for “return to normalcy” calls from the administration while an extended recovery period could lead to critiques that his virus strategy falls short.
The Hill published a centrist article reporting on five takeaways from Biden’s positive diagnosis: age is the biggest risk factor in his recovery, his infection does not come as a surprise given infection levels, two presidents have now contracted COVID, White House messaging has stayed the same even with the positive test, and COVID cases continue to surge. While both Trump and Biden contracted COVID, Trump did at a time when vaccines were not authorized, was hospitalized, and was reportedly in very serious condition.
A right-leaning article from Fox News focuses on how the media called Biden’s COVID White House video “smartly done” but called Trump’s “deranged.” Media pundits praised Biden’s video but were outraged at Trump’s.