The President has access to the best medical care in the world. He has every chance to fully recover from the infection he likely acquired at one of the gatherings where mask-wearing was neglected out of respect for his own political pose. But with the country poised to mark death number 210,000, we should be asking: Will illness change Donald Trump?
Vast literature exists supporting the notion that a serious health scare can change a person. At New York's Sloan Kettering Cancer Center this phenomenon is acknowledged by a program that helps patients write about the experience. But no one who has gone through such a crisis needs to be persuaded of the fact that it can change one's perspective. The suffering that comes with illness, which is more common in old age, can even make elders wiser. But not always.
In Trump's case, the signs are mixed. For a few days he all but disappeared from his favorite social media tool -- Twitter -- and when he did pop up, he was relatively calm. Gone was the unhinged bluster of his performance at his first debate with Joe Biden. In its place were -- at least temporarily -- expressions of gratitude. On Friday night he wrote, "Going well, I think! Thank you to all, LOVE!!!"
The tentative tone in Trump's tweet was remarkable and made it possible to wonder if he had reached the kind of crisis point that often moves people to change -- or at least attempt to change -- in significant ways.
White House doctor Sean Conley seemed to fall into the nothing-has-really-changed camp. This was made evident when he arrived at an outdoor news conference with nine lab-coated physicians who posed like models at the conclusion of a runway show. Conley, whose own coat bore a presidential seal the size of a saucer, talked in circles and created so much confusion that he had to issue a clarifying statement later in the day.
A source familiar with the President's health, later identified by The New York Times and AP as Mark Meadows, said, "The President's vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We are still not on a clear path to a full recovery."
For a brief moment, Meadows' created the impression that Trump was not a superman but, in fact, an actual person facing uncertainty. Add this tone to reports that Trump had been concerned by his diagnosis and the fact that he had gone to the hospital to seek treatment for the virus, and it was possible to imagine a new realism might take hold in the administration.
If ever there was a time when Trump and his team would change their attitude about the pandemic, this would be it. Since the reception that appears to have launched the virus into Trumpworld, the ranks of the newly-diagnosed have included, in addition to the President, the first lady, his campaign manager, top aide Hope Hicks, former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, two US senators, and one of his personal assistants.
However, Meadows' candor about the President's condition has been followed by a return of the kind of spin we've become accustomed to with a President who has made more than 20,000 false and misleading statements and claims. By Saturday night, Meadows was announcing, "He's made unbelievable improvements."
The President had been infuriated by the more realistic viewpoint the chief of staff had offered the day before. Meadow's return to Trumpspeak -- "unbelievable improvements" -- should be considered the final answer to the question: Will anything change now that the President has been diagnosed?"
As Meadows fell in line, he also demonstrated the power of the President's commitment to his self-image as the special guy who always wins, and the malleability of those around him. Some other pictures of the President at recent events are shockingly informative. In these photos, people mingle freely indoors at the White House without the masks and social distancing recommended to keep people safe. These are, presumably smart and sophisticated people but to a person -- they risked their lives as they demonstrated their loyalty to the President's fantasy that he knows more, about everything, than everyone.
On Sunday afternoon, as if to punctuate the point that his fantasy matters more than anything else, the President got into a Secret Service vehicle for a spin down the street to wave at supporters who had gathered near Walter Reed in Maryland. As a person carrying the virus, he is contagious and yet, he and the agents who accompanied him wore masks but no additional protective gear as they shared the closed cabin.
The killer virus struck Donald Trump -- and it won't change much of anything.
"Opinion" - Google News
October 06, 2020 at 12:59AM
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Will the virus change Donald Trump? - CNN
"Opinion" - Google News
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