President Trump Confirmed Positive For Coronavirus

President Trump confirmed late Thursday night that both he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The announcement followed a tweet on beginning quarantine which had been issued three hours prior:

It is worth recognizing that tweet was issued only after the news had been broken by reporters that Hicks had tested positive; the White House did not announce the test result, despite the presence of Hicks and other prominent administration members at rallies and other recent public events.

There is, as yet, no indication that the President nor Melania is symptomatic. Nevertheless, some effects can already be seen. Overnight the Dow futures have dropped, logging a loss of 430 points. The projected second debate, scheduled to the end of the basic quarantine period, will need to be moved or, more likely, scrapped.

The broader effects are yet to be seen. This is a demonstration of the failure of Trump’s approach to the disease, and that may result in a loss of support. This is also an open demonstration of weakness and injury by the President, which also tends to decrease a candidate’s support. On the other side of things, the illness may trigger a sympathetic response in some people and even energize some of his flagging support – particularly as this will inevitably be met with venom and cheers and wishes of death by some of his detractors, and those reactions will in turn be used to suggest that many who have condemned the Trump administration for lacking pity were simply acting in partisan fashion. It is also possible that Trump may suffer the worst effects and die prior to the election; in such an instance, Pence could be seen as a viable alternative for some of those who found Trump too objectionable to support but have doubts about Biden.

There are pitfalls on the political side of things. On the humanitarian side, I cannot find it in myself to feel any sympathy for Trump. His actions, whether insisting the disease was a hoax, downplaying its severity, interfering with the CDC, pressuring states to reopen or pressuring schools to be open for in-person learning, have contributed to more than 100,000 American deaths – I would put that number at more than 180,000 but the lower number is a certainty. The man deserves no sympathy. That said, I cannot bring myself to hope for pain, injury, or death for the man. This disease is terrible, and I want to see it cured, not to have the infections grow.