Joe Biden Coronavirus Campaign: Candidate Emerges From Quarantine In First Public Appearance In Weeks

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden returned to the public eye Monday after a long absence due to quarantining during the coronavirus. Biden, who has campaigned from his basement since mid-March, appeared at a Memorial Day service at Veterans Memorial Park near his Delaware home.

“Never forget the sacrifices that these men and women made,” Biden said to reporters. “Never, ever, forget.”

Biden and his wife Jill appeared wearing protective face masks and placed a wreath of white roses to commemorate veterans of World War II and the Korean War. The Bidens’ use of proper protective equipment was in contrast to Trump, who has received heavy criticism for his refusal to wear a mask in public. According to Reuters, Biden saluted roughly a dozen veterans that were in attendance and thanked them for their service.

“It feels good to be out of my house,” Biden said to the gathered press.

Biden has remained at his home in Wilmington since the outbreak took hold in the U.S. He last appeared at a debate held in a Washington, D.C., television studio on March 15, and prior to that appeared at a news conference on March 12 in Wilmington.

Despite his lack of appearances in recent weeks, he has maintained a lead on Trump in national polls. This is potentially due in part to the public’s dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

“So far, the more he’s out the more my poll numbers go up because of the things he says and does,” Biden told reporters Monday.