President Joe Biden arrived back at the White House Tuesday afternoon, quieting for the moment rumors that he was in truly ill health or even near death.
"I'm feeling well," Biden, holding a mask, said Tuesday on the tarmac after his retreat to Delaware to recover from COVID-19.
Biden walked across the South Lawn and waved. It was his first appearance in public in nearly a week.
Given that the president made history by dropping out of his own campaign without releasing so much as a picture, the internet rumor mill was working full time. Billionaire Bill Ackman, a recent Donald Trump endorsee, posted on X that "the lack of a photo op or scheduled public address to the American people suggest that the president may be severely ill."
Ackman linked to a story saying Biden suffered an undisclosed medical emergency while in Las Vegas, a city he left early on July 17 after receiving a COVID-19 diagnosis.
Several of the GOP's more colorful characters, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), have repeatedly demanded they know Biden's whereabouts, implying they do not believe written statements and doctors' notes saying he is OK.
"Where is Joe Biden?" Greene posted . "Serious question. Is he ok?"
Even Biden's calling in to a campaign fundraiser Monday night did not quiet the storm. Greene asked, "Was it a recording? That's what [Vice President Kamala Harris] started to say." Several online politicos typed out their concerns that the call was made via artificial intelligence.
Team Biden has insisted the president is fine. White House spokesman Andrew Bates compared the rumors to previous reports that the president had a medical emergency on July 5.
He told the Washington Examiner that the new rumors are also "totally false."
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Biden's personal physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, had released daily notes updating the public on Biden's condition that failed to reassure critics the way his in-person appearance did.
The president is scheduled to speak on his decision to resign at 8 p.m. Wednesday on MSNBC.
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