Pandemic 2020: A reckoning
With only one month before the presidential election, and a few days after the first awful presidential debate, Trump has tested positive for COVID-19. Most of the world learned the news Thursday night, and by late Friday the president was transported to Walter Reed hospital. He walked to Marine One, everyone around him wearing masks. It was reported he was fatigued but his spirits were high.
I sincerely hope that Trump, the First Lady, and all the others infected get better soon. But I have to say, I had always expected this to happen at some point. Not wearing a mask increases the risk of spreading the virus. Trump made this a central issue in his culture war with COVID-19, rarely wearing a mask. He mocked others for doing so, including Joe Biden at the debate.
One gets the sense that everyone in Trump World felt a certain invincibility with this virus. The rules of the universe didn’t apply.
Except they do.
I can’t think of a worse situation for a presidential candidate than to get sick like this right before an election—especially one who proclaiming the pandemic was over. I think what’s really sad is how Trump has changed the way we’d look at events like this. I’ve caught myself wondering if this isn’t some plan to garner sympathy—like the candidate in the film Bob Roberts. Or if the president’s condition is much worse than they’ve saying—because it will make him look weak. These are things we shouldn’t have to wonder about.
I only hope that those who didn’t take the virus seriously are doing so now.
