--- title: Biden Uses Positive COVID Test to Take Dig at Musk and Trump description: President Joe Biden used his positive COVID-19 diagnosis to take a dig at Elon Musk and Republican opponent Donald Trump. canonical: https://time.com/6999946/biden-covid-digs-musk-trump/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-07-18T00:30:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:58:15.674Z article:section: Politics og:title: Biden Uses Positive COVID Test to Take Dig at Musk and Trump og:description: "I'm sick," Biden posted on X, following that up with: "of Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election." og:url: https://time.com/6999946/biden-covid-digs-musk-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d897c794260319b/698a58e39d83e8c66eb9a50a/Biden-COVID-Musk-Trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-VOTE-POLITICS-BIDEN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biden Uses Positive COVID Test to Take Dig at Musk and Trump twitter:description: "I'm sick," Biden posted on X, following that up with: "of Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d897c794260319b/698a58e39d83e8c66eb9a50a/Biden-COVID-Musk-Trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘I’m Sick’: Biden Uses Positive COVID Test to Take Dig at Musk and Trump > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Jul 18, 2024 12:30 AM UTC  U.S. President Joe Biden boards Air Force One as he departs Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 17, 2024, en route to Delaware. U.S. President Joe Biden boards Air Force One as he departs Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 17, 2024, en route to Delaware. Kent Nishimura—AFP/Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Jul 18, 2024 12:30 AM UTC [President Joe Biden](https://time.com/6984970/joe-biden-2024-interview/) used his positive COVID-19 diagnosis to take a dig at Elon Musk and Republican opponent [Donald Trump](https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/) on Wednesday. “I’m sick,” Biden [posted on X](https://x.com/JoeBiden/status/1813715902250017022) on Wednesday evening, soon after news circulated of his [testing positive for COVID-19](https://time.com/6999896/biden-tested-positive-covid-19/). However, he followed that up with another post that continued: “of Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election. And if you agree, pitch in here.” That post included photos of Musk and Trump, along with a link to a donation site for the Biden campaign. > [](https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1813715902250017022) Musk endorsed Trump for the 2024 presidential election in a [post on X](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1812256998588662068) on Saturday, after a [gunman opened fire](https://time.com/6998302/trump-rally-shooting-2/) on the former President at a rally in Pennsylvania. Musk has [repeatedly attacked Biden on X](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/24/technology/elon-musk-x-biden.html) for his age and immigration policies, but has often posted statements of support for Trump on the social media platform. Musk reportedly said that he will give about $45 million a month to a pro-Trump political group, according to [The Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/elon-musk-has-said-he-is-committing-around-45-million-a-month-to-a-new-pro-trump-super-pac-dda53823). But the tech billionaire later [took to X](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1813097084595163643) to reply to The Journal’s story, posting a meme with the caption “FAKE GNUS.” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed earlier Wednesday evening that the President tested positive for the virus that day after an event in Las Vegas. Biden was supposed to speak at the UnidosUS conference Wednesday night, but Jean-Pierre said the President would return to his home state of Delaware to self-isolate and continue his duties. The President is vaccinated and boosted, she added. Before he left Las Vegas, Biden told reporters, “I feel good” and could be seen boarding Air Force One without a mask. He last tested positive for COVID-19 in 2022. Get alerts on the biggest breaking news stories [**here**](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=breaking-news) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6999946/biden-covid-digs-musk-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6999946/biden-covid-digs-musk-trump/"},"headline":"‘I’m Sick’: Biden Uses Positive COVID Test to Take Dig at Musk and Trump","datePublished":"2024-07-18T00:30:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:58:15.674Z","description":"President Joe Biden used his positive COVID-19 diagnosis to take a dig at Elon Musk and Republican opponent Donald Trump.","url":"https://time.com/6999946/biden-covid-digs-musk-trump/","keywords":["2024 Elections","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d897c794260319b/698a58e39d83e8c66eb9a50a/Biden-COVID-Musk-Trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d897c794260319b/698a58e39d83e8c66eb9a50a/Biden-COVID-Musk-Trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-VOTE-POLITICS-BIDEN","caption":"US-VOTE-POLITICS-BIDEN","creditText":"Kent Nishimura—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2024-election/","name":"2024 Elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6999946/biden-covid-digs-musk-trump/","name":"‘I’m Sick’: Biden Uses Positive COVID Test to Take Dig at Musk and Trump"}}]}] ```