My Corona
What Trump’s COVID-19 Diagnosis Says About his Character
You’d think Trump’s hearing that he’d contracted COVID-19 would serve as a re-set button for a president slow to take the pandemic seriously. But early indicators suggest otherwise. And while not a transformative moment for the president, it served as a telling one—revealing the true character of Trump, Biden, and others in leadership.
Barack Obama opened a virtual fund-raiser by wishing the president and his wife a speedy recovery AND urging all Americans to do the same, saying, “Even in the midst of big political battles… we’re all Americans and we’re all human beings [and] Michelle and I want to acknowledge the president and the first lady at this difficult time.” Alongside him was Kamala Harris, who offered her “deepest prayers,” to the Trumps, adding, “Let it be a reminder to all of us that we must remain vigilant and take care of ourselves and take care of each other.”
Those prayers coincided with an email appeal from Trump’s camp that railed against “Lyin’ Obama” and “Phony Kamala”—and the president’s pledge to continue the attack ads against his Democratic opponent. A sharp contrast to Biden’s continued prayers “for the health and safety of the president and his family” and his decision to halt all negative ads (displaying the kind of basic empathy one expects from a leader).
Even the Director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was quick to send best wishes to the president and his wife—despite Trump’s belligerent bullying of him throughout the pandemic.
It’s no surprise that even a life-threatening illness can’t quiet Trump’s insults. Nor is it surprising that many American’s questioned whether he was sick at all. And therein lies a national illness of Trump’s own making.
His four years in office have created what The New York Times calls a “Landscape primed for mistrust”—fueled by misinformation, distraction and “a warp-speed whiplash of conflicting realities.” “The virus that [Trump] is spreading is the virus of casting doubt on any bit of factual information,” said political satirist and “Veep” creator, Armando Iannucci. “Casting doubt on truth, casting doubt on the news… We’re in a state where nobody believes anything.”
Hearing Trump’s news, empathetic Democrats rejected that mindset. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was quick to admonish those who suggested the diagnosis might be a political play, instead calling it, “an important reminder to follow protocol." Biden shared that sentiment, reminding Americans to wear a mask “for the people you love, the people you work with.” It was a far cry from Trump’s refusing to wear a mask because he didn’t “want to give reporters the satisfaction.” A move that one supporter bizarrely reasoned made him more human. (“We can trust him more because he didn’t wear the mask.”)
Think about this: Trump was diagnosed late Thursday—the same day he spoke (mask-free) with attendees at a private fundraiser at the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey. Visiting six cities in five states that week, Trump’s disregard for masks (and his mocking Biden for wearing them) signaled to thousands of rally attendees that it was OK to do the same. Has any single person posed a bigger threat to public safety during this pandemic?
Eight top officials linked to the recent Rose Garden event announcing Trump’s Supreme Court nominee have tested positive for COVID-19 (with more expected). His own Secret Service detail has expressed “anger and frustration” at the carefree way Trump put them at risk (with one agent saying, “He’s never cared about us”); while Dr. Sean Conley’s report that his patient was doing very well 72 hours into his diagnosis suggested that Trump knew he was positive as early as Wednesday.
Appearing in a video from Walter Reade Hospital Saturday, Trump called his agreeing to be airlifted to the hospital “a sign of leadership,” when in fact, his contracting the virus (along with 7.3 million other Americans) was the direct result of his refusing to take the pandemic seriously. And by touting “therapeutics coming out that look like miracles coming down from God,” he continued to mislead Americans with unsubstantiated claims that a cure is eminent.
Where Biden, Obama and others responded to the president’s hospitalization with empathy, Trump can’t help but politicize it. While Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, "Each time [Congress] convenes carries with it the potential of a super-spreader event" on the day of the diagnosis, Trump’s team was holding yet another mask-free rally (this time, on Staten Island). And they will undoubtedly continue to.
For a president who sparred with CDC experts and promoted false cures, this is business as usual—suggesting his diagnosis was not the wake-up call we’d hoped for. But it should be one for voters. Even with his own life at risk, Trump continues to risk the health of rally attendees. Despite all the good will sent him, Trump lacks the will to protect others.
Trump ended Saturday’s video saying he’s “grateful for the bi-partisan support and won’t forget it.” If the latest charge that “Sleepy Joe isn’t fit to be YOUR President” and his non-stop negative ads are any indication, he already has.