Early in the morning of Oct. 2, President Donald Trump tweeted that he and the first lady both tested positive for COVID-19. Since then, we’ve learned he’s experiencing mild symptoms.
For many leftists, this may seem like karma. Indeed, Trump has abetted — if not spearheaded — many of the “virus denialism” and general aimlessness that has characterized this country’s response to the pandemic. He told us the virus would be gone by Easter, he refused to wear a mask until more than 100,000 Americans died and he even poked fun at Joe Biden for wearing a mask during the first presidential debate. On top of that, Trump has become the third far-right world leader to contract the virus, after the UK’s Boris Johnson and then Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro.
For many leftists, Trump catching the virus is a long-awaited iteration of poetic justice — “It’s Trump’s alt-right, pro-corporate, anti-science mentality coming back to bite him.” And maybe it is. Many have already made a strong case that Trump has “blood on his hands” for how poorly he responded to the pandemic. So maybe, individually, Trump is “getting what he deserves.”
However, Trump is the president, and the effects of him having COVID-19, whatever they may be, influence things well beyond him as an individual. They will affect the nation as a whole. And whatever the outcome of his battle with the virus may be, the effects will not be good. This is the most imminent danger a sitting US president has been in since the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan 39 years ago. The implications of that are significant, and there are three potential outcomes that we should explore in more detail: that Trump overcomes the virus with no lasting effects, that Trump succumbs to the virus or that Trump survives but with long-term complications.
If Trump survives with no issues, he will likely take it as a divine mandate to double down on his insidious agenda. To understand what I mean here, consider what happened to Reagan after he survived an assassination attempt in 1981. Reagan saw his survival as a mandate from God. His ratings soared, and he used the momentum to intensify his efforts toward his initiatives. Trump, who already thinks he is the “chosen one,” would use his overcoming of the virus to his advantage, taking it as a “full steam ahead” signal from above.
He could also use his own survival to double down on his reckless handling of the virus. It’s not hard to imagine him saying, “I survived. I was fine. Now we can reopen the country.” In other words, he would take his experience of survival and extrapolate it to everyone else. Trump surviving with no consequences would mean that we may find ourselves with an intensified version of what we already have. That would be dangerous.
Of course, I am not saying that the second alternative is better. Trump, being a 74-year-old male, obese and elderly, is in an extremely high-risk group, so, while sobering, we must consider the potential implications of his passing. First, no matter how evil and incompetent he may be, I do not wish that he dies. I do not wish for anyone to die. But, more concretely than such wishy-washy moral arguments, there is a practical case to be made for why it would not be good. If Trump were to succumb to COVID-19, imagine his supporters: they would be livid. Once again, it is not hard to imagine them speculating that he was “poisoned by the radical left.” Such skepticism, anger and sorrow about his death among his most fervent supporters (of which there are many) could very easily lead to civil unrest.
Furthermore, consider who would take Trump’s place: Vice President Mike Pence. President Pence, many would say, could be even worse than President Trump. Beyond that, we cannot pretend that the significant presence of right-wing movements in this country will be over when Trump and Pence leave, whether by election or otherwise. The alt-right is here to stay, at least for the time being. Wishing for the death of Trump is both morally questionable and ignorant of the deeper trends he is a symptom of.
The final possibility — that Trump survives but with significant lasting side effects — would likely include some combination of outcomes from the previous two. He may still have a sense of divine support, but his supporters would still be enraged about his incapacitation. If the lasting effects of the virus were very severe, he may only be in office as a figurehead, much as what happened to President Woodrow Wilson after his stroke in 1919.
At this point, after all the doom and gloom, it is worth considering that Trump may have a change of heart: after experiencing the virus himself, maybe he will begin to take it more seriously and change course toward more pragmatic pandemic responses. But, given what we know about Trump and his headstrong nature, this optimistic possibility seems unlikely.
Ultimately, while the temptation for leftists to say, “Told ya so,” to Trump and his crew is understandable, there are not many positive outcomes to Trump having COVID-19. In fact, Trump’s contracting the virus could prove to be incredibly dangerous for this country in many ways, ranging from right-wingers finding righteousness in Trump’s survival to civil unrest over his death. So, before leftists excitedly proclaim that justice has been served, they must consider the nuanced realities of the situation. Yes, there is sweet irony here, but it could be bad news for us all.
Sam Smith is a rising senior studying geography at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Sam know by tweeting him @sambobsmith_.
