- After testing negative for COVID-19, President Biden delivered remarks from the Rose Garden.
- Biden encouraged Americans to get vaccinated and boosted.
After testing negative for the coronavirus on Wednesday, President Joe Biden delivered remarks from the White House Rose Garden where he compared his recovery to former President Donald Trump's. Biden said that he was able to work while he was sick thanks to the vaccine.
"When my predecessor got COVID, he had to get helicoptered to Walter Reed medical center, he was severely ill. Thankfully, he recovered," Biden said.
"When I got COVID, I worked from upstairs of the White House and the offices upstairs and for that five-day period. The difference is vaccinations, of course," he continued.
Trump tested positive in September of 2021 and was hospitalized at Walter Reed Medical Center at the recommendation of his presidential physicians. The two presidents also took extremely different approaches when it came to addressing the pandemic.
Biden is vaccinated and twice boosted, but when Trump contracted the virus, vaccines were not available yet.
"You don't need to be President to get these tools to use for your defense," Biden said.
His speech encouraged Americans to get vaccinated, boosted, and seek out treatments because they are "widely available." He noted that while "COVID isn't gone," deaths have gone down "nearly 90%."
Biden's speech was his first public appearance in six days. He completed a five-day PAXLOVID treatment as part of his recovery.
"I got through with no fear," he said. "Now, I get to go back to the Oval Office."