News that President Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19 puts Joe Biden in a precarious political position.
Trump tweeted the diagnosis early Friday morning, setting the stage for the Democratic nominee’s response amid a topsy-turvy White House race already upended by the virus that has claimed more than 200,000 lives in the United States, triggered a recession, and effectively halted in-person campaigning for several months.
Biden, the former vice president and 36-year Delaware senator, can remind the electorate that he’s taken the coronavirus seriously all along, to the point of staying at his home in Delaware the bulk of the campaign. Biden has also worn a mask in public for months, in contrast to Trump’s on-and-off relationship with face coverings.
Biden has also delivered several lashing speeches about the Trump administration’s coronavirus response. He’s pledged a more national response to the pandemic, compared to the Trump administration’s reliance on governors to combat it in their states. And Biden has pledged to keep on as a top adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with whom Trump administration officials have sometimes clashed.
But an I-told-you-so response by Biden and his supporters would likely backfire, stirring sympathy for his White House rival and wife.
One immediate decision for Biden is whether to suspend his campaign. If Biden continues on pressing for votes, his schedule is likely to be altered to focus exclusively on taming the coronavirus. Biden would likely discard overt political rhetoric, instead focusing on science related to the pandemic.
One prominent Trump critic early Friday suggested Biden continue on the offensive against Trump, with a COVID-19 focus.
“Trump didn’t protect himself from the virus. He didn’t wear a mask. Didn’t take basic precautions. How’s he supposed to protect the rest of us?” tweeted Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.
[LIST: People in Trump’s orbit tested for COVID-19]
Trump didn’t protect himself from the virus. He didn’t wear a mask. Didn’t take basic precautions. How’s he supposed to protect the rest of us?
— Neera -Vote Early- Tanden (@neeratanden) October 2, 2020
The COVID-19 diagnosis for the president and first lady virtually guarantees the pandemic remains front-and-center for the bulk of the presidential campaign. The pair are quarantined for 14 days, which raises questions about Trump’s in-person participation at the scheduled Oct. 15 presidential debate.
