Van Jones' brutal verdict on Biden and Trump after assassination attempt and COVID diagnosis rocked their campaigns

The dismal contrast between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was laid bare for CNN viewers by Van Jones after he tasted the mood at the RNC ahead of their nominee's speech this evening.

The progressive commentator grimly summed up the gulf between the candidates' standing as Trump prepared for a rapturous reception and Biden holed up in Delaware to nurse his Covid.

'A bullet couldn't stop Trump. A virus just stopped Biden,' the former Barack Obama adviser noted.

'You've got the nominees of this party getting their butts kissed, Biden is getting his butt kicked by his own party.

'The Democrats are coming apart. The Republicans are coming together.'

Van Jones painted a stark contrast between Trump and Biden for CNN viewers

The former president received another rapturous reception from delegates on Thursday ahead of his keynote speech at the RNC convention, just five days after being shot

Obama himself has become the most senior Democrat to go cool on the President's prospects for re-election suggesting his chances have greatly diminished.

Biden's former boss called for calm in the wake of his VP's disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump last month, insisting that 'bad debate nights happen'.

But he now wants Biden to seriously reconsider his decision to press ahead, the Washington Post reported Thursday, amid Democrat fears it could cost the party both the House and the Senate at November's general election.

Obama's view on the state of the race comes after Axios reported that Democratic sources believe the drumbeat to exit the race from party leaders and friends will push Biden to make the decision to step aside as early as this weekend.

'It feels the most real it's ever been,' one senior House Democratic aide told DailyMail.com. Another senior Democratic Hill aide told DailyMail.com that chances are 'high' that Biden pulls the plug but the timing is 'fluid.'

This week private conversations he's had with top Congressional Democrats have started to leak out, with reports saying Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have delivered to Biden some hard truths.

The official line remains that top Democrats did not pressure the president to quit, and that Biden 'is not wavering on anything'.

'The president has made his decision,' according to deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks at an event Thursday on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

President Joe Biden returned to Delaware on Air Force One to recuperate from COVID on Wednesday night amid claims from Democrats that could drop out of the presidential race as soon as this weekend

The President was diagnosed with his third bout of Covid during a campaign trip to Nevada

A spokesperson for Obama declined to comment to The Washington Post.

The stress of holding the line while Biden remains in the race has started to tell on some progressive commentators with MSNBC's Joy Reid accused of 'next level desperation' after suggesting that Joe Biden 's brush with Covid is as admirable as Donald Trump's defiance in the face of an assassin's bullet.

The liberal anchor seemed dismayed at the contrast drawn by RNC delegates between the president's frailty and his challenger's vigorous response to being shot.

'Should he (Biden) be fine in a couple of days, doesn't that convey exactly the same thing?' she demanded.

The answer appeared to be a resounding no from many on social media where Reid was ridiculed for 'mental gymnastics'.

'Wow... talk about reaching,' wrote one.

'Trump caught a bullet, Biden caught a cold,' added another.

Polling released by Emerson on Thursday find Trump leading by between three and 10 points in each of the seven main swing states.

And Democratic Rep Jamie Raskin has become the latest of more than 20 Democrat lawmakers to publicly urge Biden to step aside.

Raskin used the example of Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez, the pitcher who was left on the mound for the eighth inning of Game Seven of the 2003 American League Championship Series despite being tired.

'There is no shame in taking a well-deserved bow to the overflowing appreciation of the crowd when your arm is tired out, and there is real danger for the team in ignoring the statistics,' Raskin wrote in a letter seen by the NYT.

Joy Reid was widely ridiculed on Wednesday after after suggesting that Joe Biden 's brush with Covid is as admirable as Donald Trump's defiance in the face of an assassin's bullet

She seemed furious that Donald Trump was allowed to signal his defiance to fans after being shot in the head at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening 

'Your situation is tricky because you are both our star pitcher and our manager. But in democracy, as you have shown us more than any prior president, you are not a manager acting all alone; you are the co-manager along with our great team and our great people.

'Caucus with the team, Mr President. Hear them out. You will make the right decision.'

The President is currently due to return to the campaign trail next week after recuperating at his Rehoboth Beach home with wife Jill.

'His soul searching is actually happening, I know that for a fact,' a source told Reuters. 'He's thinking about this very seriously.'