President Joe Biden landed in Las Vegas on Monday, July 15, with plans to speak at conferences on the Las Vegas Strip — one hosted by the NAACP and the other by UnidosUS. On Tuesday, July 16 and Wednesday, July 17, the president also commuted off-Strip to meet voters at one neighborhood market and one beloved local restaurant. While visiting Mario’s Westside Market and the Original Lindo Michoacan, Biden shook hands, posed for photos with families, and communed with members of the community.

On Tuesday, Biden spoke in front of a crowd of about 4,700 attendees at the NAACP National Convention at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. During his speech, he made his case that Trump’s four years in the White House were “hell” for Black Americans. He also remarked on strides his administration has made — citing a record-low Black unemployment rate, reached in March 2023. He claimed that he made the most significant investments in fighting climate change in history. Biden made several campaign promises, saying that if he were re-elected, he would ban military-style semi-automatic rifles like those used in the 1 October shooting in Las Vegas and in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13.

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Following his speech, Biden visited Mario’s Westside Market in the Historic Westside, a predominantly Black community that developed in the late 1940s when Black entertainers were barred from staying in the Las Vegas Strip casinos where they performed. In response, the Westside developed its own entertainment venues — most notably, the Moulin Rouge, the first integrated hotel in the United States. Mario’s has been serving the community since 1997. In 2023, after receiving $1,000,000 in American Rescue Plan funds, owner Mario Berlanga was able to purchase and renovate a larger location for the market, one that now offers a full produce section. During his visit, Biden met several of the store’s staff and customers and spoke with Berlanga.

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On Wednesday, Biden stopped into the Original Lindo Michoácan restaurant. While he didn’t sit and dine — no ice cream on this visit — he mingled with customers at each table before sitting down for an interview with Univision. The family-owned restaurant opened in 1990 and has secured its place as a favorite among locals even as the chain has now grown to four Las Vegas locations.

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Biden’s restaurant visit took place just hours before the White House announced that the president tested positive for COVID, and would postpone his speaking engagement with the UnidosUS Hispanic civil rights group’s annual conference at MGM Grand. Biden had been expected to announce a new policy that would lift the threat of deportation for hundreds of thousands of people married to U.S. citizens — permitting certain U.S. citizens’ spouses without legal status to begin applying for permanent residency and eventually citizenship without having to first depart the U.S.

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley released a statement in response to Biden’s stop in Nevada, saying, “Joe Biden’s economic agenda has bankrupted the Silver State, with inflation at over 22 percent and over $1,187 in household costs crushing everyday families.”

The White House announced that Biden’s COVID symptoms are mild but that he is returning to Delaware.