Last month, radio transmission recordings revealed that officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department swiftly worked to clear roads and establish a secure perimeter around a hospital, which had been prepared to treat President Joe Biden for a medical issue.
The undisclosed medical issue remains ambiguous, but the White House later confirmed that he had been diagnosed with COVID.
“Meet at the Valley Hospital ER parking lot. We’re going to meet behind the ER entrances, where the ambulances go,” an officer says in one of the transmissions, which were sent to the Daily Beast in response to a public records request to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
On July 17, radio transmissions were aired after the president unexpectedly canceled a speaking engagement during a campaign visit in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was scheduled to address Hispanic voters at the UnidosUS event.
At 2:15 p.m. local time on the same day, an unspecified medical emergency concerning Biden was reported to the University Medical Center (UMC) hospital by KSNV Las Vegas.
Although information about the incident was limited, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMP) promptly deployed outside the hospital and established a secure perimeter around the premises.
At that time, UMC’s CEO Mason Van Houweling informed KSNV that the staff of UMC was prepared and had set up an incident command center in anticipation of the president’s arrival.
“We knew we were dealing with more of a medical issue—definitely trauma and any accidents were off the table. So again, we shifted gears to be able to address a medical need here at UMC,” Houweling said.
In one of the radio transmissions shared with the Daily Beast, a police officer warns that “we gotta take this one slow ’cause we don’t have a lot of resources to make it work.”
“Everybody just keep in mind safety, safety, safety. If it doesn’t look good, don’t do it… no one gets hurt.”
Biden did not require hospitalization. Instead, he was taken directly to the airport, where he boarded Air Force One and departed Las Vegas for Delaware.
In another set of police radio broadcasts—which appears to feature LVMPD officers assisting the Secret Service as Biden was being driven to the airport—an officer asks: “Do we know if the Secret Service has drones flying over the stratosphere right now?”
At the conclusion of a recording, a police officer expresses gratitude to his team for their handling of the situation.
“All my units at the airport, be advised that the motorcade is at Air Force One,” he says. “I just wanna let everybody know. Great work out there. You know we put that together ad hoc… appreciate all the resources coming over. You guys did a fantastic job that looked like we had planned it for weeks, so great job everybody.”
You can listen to the audio here.
Days later, the LVMPD released a statement saying that they had been informed that the president was sick without further details, adding that they had proactively started clearing roads to the hospital. Hours later, the White House released a statement saying that the president had been diagnosed with COVID.
“Earlier today following his first event in Las Vegas, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms. He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement released later that day.
“The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation.”
Only four days after facing ongoing scrutiny over his physical and mental acuity, exacerbated by a lackluster debate performance against Trump on June 27, Biden withdrew from the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
“While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” the president wrote in a letter posted to X.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
Later that same day, Biden gave his endorsement to Vice President Kamala Harris to run in his place.
On August 6th, Harris officially became the Democratic presidential nomination and has since chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
She is scheduled to face off against president Donald Trump in their first debate on September 10th.
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