President Trump has COVID-19. It’s a huge deal, considering the leader of the free world has contracted the virus that turned the world on its head and has killed so many.
It’s entirely reasonable and responsible to ask questions about what Trump’s positive test means for the country and for the election, and even to ask what happens if Trump were to get extremely ill or, God forbid, to die from it, as so many people in his age group have.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows confirmed on Friday that the president is showing mild symptoms, and stories have been breaking all morning about the circumstances surrounding Trump’s diagnosis, which of his aides and allies also have the virus, and so forth.
The news has grown into a self-perpetuating frenzy, though, as some reporters and analysts offer their overreactions.
New York Times reporters Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman rightly noted, “Mr. Trump’s positive test result could pose immediate difficulties for the future of his campaign.” In fact, it’s quite certain that the result will do that.
In any case, their next assessment is vague and needless prodding at this juncture. “If he becomes sick, it could raise questions about whether he should remain on the ballot at all,” the two write.
I suppose a conditional statement like that is always true, that a candidate’s sickness “could raise questions” about whether he should keep running, but the sickness would have to degrade his health irreparably, or seriously enough to put him out. We have a long way to go before we get to a point of asking whether Trump should hop off his reelection train because of COVID-19. Perhaps the New York Times is just preparing readers for that scenario. So be it, but it reads more like a needless escalation.
Sam Vinograd, a national security analyst for CNN, tweeted, “This is a code red moment for the U.S. government,” referring to Trump’s positive test. What code should we use if Trump actually becomes incapacitated (again, may God forbid that)?
Carl Bernstein said Trump’s diagnosis has sparked a national security threat. “We have to be concerned about adversaries, particularly Russia, taking advantage of this situation for its own purposes,” he said. “We have to think about possible cybermanipulation of the markets.” What was Trump doing last week, when he didn’t have COVID-19, to prevent cybermanipulation of the markets that he can’t do today? White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said of the president on Friday, “He’s hard at work.”
This virus has long demonstrated its cunning. It has infected elected leaders the world over, including members of Congress and governors. Many more people have recovered from the virus than have died from it. Trump could very well avoid serious illness. Nobody knows yet. Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle made that point by explaining that her father, who has hypertension and heart failure, never had a fever after catching the virus. It’s strange and variable in its effects.
My father is 78, has had congenital hypertension since the age of 26, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in the incident that sent him into the facility where he caught covid.
He never even ran a fever.
President Trump may well recover after a very mild disease.
— Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) October 2, 2020
Trump is at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 than younger populations. He is also the president. Both elevate the seriousness of his positive test. It doesn’t merit media voices going all-in with warnings of a civilizational emergency.
