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The news that Donald Trump and his wife Melania tested positive for coronavirus has rocked the US presidential campaign.
Trump announced the news in the early hours of Friday, following earlier confirmation that Hope Hicks, one of his closest aides, had tested positive.
The question of how this plays out politically will depend on how your condition evolves. While some patients suffer only mild symptoms, the medical situation of others can deteriorate rapidly. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital 10 days after his initial diagnosis.
While the White House physician, Sean Conley, did not specify whether the president was symptomatic in his memo confirming his positive test, saying only that the president and the first lady were “both fine at the moment,” we later learned from him. Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, that the president was showing mild symptoms.
This implies that he contracted the disease a few days ago. There were unconfirmed reports that, to those close to him, the president appeared lethargic on Wednesday and Thursday. The fact that his campaign rally Wednesday night in Minnesota ended after 45 minutes, about half the length of most of his events, also raised concern.
Symptoms and claim
For a president who has repeatedly downplayed the coronavirus, his diagnosis could play two ways. If you show only mild symptoms, you can see it as a vindication of your claim that Covid-19 is no worse than the seasonal flu.
But if their condition deteriorates, fundamental questions will arise about their handling of the pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Americans. As recently as Tuesday, Joe Biden was mocked, in his Cleveland debate, for the excessive use of masks. “Every time you see him he has a mask. It could be talking 200 feet away. . . and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen. “
Biden’s negative test on Friday means many Americans are likely to view his cautious approach to the virus as wise.
If Trump becomes seriously ill, the issue of succession also comes up. The 25th amendment to the constitution, added after the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963, states that the vice president assumes the role of commander-in-chief if the president is incapacitated.
The president would have to send a formal notification to the House and Senate stating that he could not “fulfill the powers and duties of his office”, although one clause allows a transfer without their consent. While Mike Pence tested negative on Friday, should he, too, become incapacitated, second in line to assume the presidency is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Campaign route
In any case, Trump’s diagnosis takes him away from the election campaign at a crucial moment. His campaign team confirmed that all events previously announced with the president would be postponed or switched to virtual events.
At the same time, Biden continues with his schedule, showing up in Michigan on Friday, an ironic twist given that Trump had labeled his opponent “hiding Biden” for not being more present on the campaign.
The development also shifts the focus to the coronavirus pandemic, an issue that Trump’s team has been eager to overcome in the final weeks of the campaign, but that Biden has wanted to highlight.
Trump’s contraction of Covid-19 also threatens to disrupt business in Washington. Republican Senator Mike Lee, who accompanied Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett during her meetings with senators this week, tested positive. Lee is one of 22 senators on the Senate judicial committee, which is scheduled to begin confirmation hearings for the supreme court vacancy next week. Barrett herself tested negative.
Capitol Hill has had minimal protections against the virus. Although wearing masks is required on the House floor, it is not a requirement in the Republican-controlled Senate. As evidenced by the multiple face-to-face meetings of Foreign Minister Simon Coveney this week on the hill, social distancing is limited and there is no contract testing or tracing system.
While Washington waits to learn the full group of people who may have been infected, the implications go far beyond the presidential campaign.
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