President Donald Trump’s bout with COVID-19 added further uncertainty and concern to an already-dismal year and came just weeks before the presidential election.
It’s a serious matter for the nation any time a president is ill simply because the commander in chief wields so much power. That is all the more so when his condition requires hospitalization or, as in Trump’s case, quarantine.
So all Americans have been right to wish the president and first lady Melania Trump a speedy recovery and good health, not just as a matter of rote but for the good of the nation.
And even though the coronavirus has killed about 210,000 Americans and sickened more than 7.1 million people nationally, the positive tests of the first couple emphatically demonstrate the pathogen’s aggressiveness and the need to take precautions against it.
By his own admission, the president attempted to “downplay” the coronavirus pandemic since January, when U.S. intelligence agencies informed him of the true situation at the coronavirus’ source in Wuhan, China, and its potential to rapidly spread in the United States.
Now the president’s own infection with COVID-19 belies that policy and tells the American people that it is crucial to wear masks, maintain social distancing, and otherwise heed health experts’ precautions regarding COVID-19.
Meanwhile, after the national media worked itself and the rest of the nation into a frenzy, we all need to take a deep breath.
And maybe send up a prayer or two for the republic.
The prayer should be one of gratitude. We have a constitutional system built to withstand crisis and uncertainty. We are coming through the pandemic intact and the country will weather the president’s health crisis.
If it had been necessary, the 25th Amendment could have been invoked and Vice President Mike Pence could have stood in for the president. That was a worst-case scenario, but he was able and stability had been assured.
The country will be fine with fewer campaign rallies and debates. Shifting staffing at the White House, below the presidential level, is no big deal. And the markets will stabilize.
We will be fine. We are fine.
— Tribune News Service
