During a year that has inundated us all with uncertainties of never-before-seen proportion, it’s hard to imagine how more twists and turns could be added. And yet here we are. On October 2, the president of the United States announced that he was diagnosed with the most contagious and unpredictable virus in modern history. It doesn’t stop there — former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway revealed she tested positive for COVID-19, as have a few senators, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, the First Lady, and the president of the University of Notre Dame. While there are conflicting and limited resources concerning President Trump’s true condition, it’s clear it must be of a severe or potentially severe threat, as he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD — a significant pivot from the initial intention of the President to complete quarantine in the White House.
Now, inevitably, this news has been met with a slew of mixed reactions. In a way, it’s set a new alarm for those who have grown comfortable living in a society that has been extremely messy in handling this unique public health crisis (note the DOW Jones dropping more than 500 points after Trump’s tweet about his positive test). Many on social media simply chalk up the news to “karma” as a result of this administration’s mishandling of COVID-19. What I find most interesting, however, is that some officials and experts argued this could be the “wake-up call” Trump needs to take this virus more seriously. (Did I really just say that in relation to a sitting president when more than 200,000 American lives have been lost?) While I so badly want to believe that this “wake-up call” is in sight, the track record of the Trump White House has led me to believe otherwise, for a few reasons.
- If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the Trump administration, it is that it is not reliable.
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Even with the president sitting in a hospital bed, the frustration journalists feel due to the lack of information surrounding Trump’s condition is insurmountable. No briefings. No medical press releases. Just a couple of memos and a few tweets here and there.
Trump enjoys the attention. The show. The mystery of it all. The reality TV star in him is most likely relishing in the content this is creating for future history textbooks and documentaries. It seems as though the confusing nature surrounding his case is curated to generate all conceivable media attention possible, the same media he and others discredit as “fake news.”
But that’s just my opinion. What is clear, though, is that President Trump has one stark contrast between his case and the cases of millions of Americans, which brings me to my next point.
- Trump has access to the best possible care in the country.
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Now, this isn’t going to be a lengthy dissertation on the importance of health care, especially for marginalized communities, mainly because that should already be a given. What I will say is that while President Trump’s situation is relatable to many Americans, given over 7 million have now been in contact with COVID-19, the care he is receiving is not as relatable. If Trump experienced the endless wait lines many face for testing, the consuming fear of not being able to provide for his family over his own well-being, or automatically knowing he is at a greater statistical disadvantage of surviving the virus simply because of the color of his skin, perhaps then he would get the “wake-up call” so many officials anticipate him having.
This doesn’t only apply to the president — maybe Congress itself would have listened sooner and promoted quicker action to tackle these areas many Americans have been waiting months to see change. Instead, the White House and Capitol Hill had to become a petri dish for COVID-19 and political officials are walking on eggshells hoping the Commander in Chief’s health remains intact. And who knows; maybe the concerning conditions the president and other officials endure with the virus will be enough to show them what Americans have been suffering through for months. It’s just sad that the loss of 200,000 Americans wasn’t enough to “wake up” our leaders on its own.
- At the end of the day, his supporters will defend him all the way.
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There should really be another name for Trump’s fervent supporters. I can understand supporting a few ideas here and there of a candidate, maybe an economic policy or the like. But I’ve noticed many go beyond that realm — it’s almost as though there is an entire allegiance to this man, a stretch of loyalty we have not seen with almost any other American president.
This is important to note because many of these supporters are government officials, ranging from mayors to governors. Republican states including Texas, Georgia, and my home state of Florida have made no plans to adjust their lax rules in relation to schools opening or restaurants removing limits on capacities. I recently found out that the principal of my high school has been quarantining for the past week after being exposed to the virus, yet there are no records of positive and negative cases in the school districts, nor is there any plan to rethink school openings or closing them altogether. The leaders of these places who support Trump have become witness to the unimaginable. Trump is not invincible. It throws a wrench in all the plans, and should they pull out of their efforts to continue reopening, this may only contribute to the idea that Trump and his administration were wrong in every possible way.
To put it mildly, my biggest fear, aside from the fate of the health of political officials affected by the virus, is that there will be no lesson learned, no action taken. Even if there is, the election is less than a month away. I wonder how much change can truly be done now, after over seven months of suffering on behalf of the American public.
The only change I know is the change I can make. The change we can make. Suck up the online classes. Wear a mask. Vote. The power of America lies in the power of its people.