If the president emerges from COVID-19 unscathed, which we hope he does, that is not a referendum on his leadership.
He did not “conquer” the coronavirus. Instead, he was lucky to have caught a mild version, received drugs not available to most, and had an army of doctors at his disposal.
Those who vow they will “beat” cancer or other serious diseases know they owe much of the credit for their survival to luck, including early detection and new drug therapies. And if they “lose” the battle, it’s not because of some character flaw.
If we’re smart, such experiences teach us humility, reminding us how thin the veil is between life and death; and compassion for those less fortunate.
With the U.S. death toll from the virus now at 210,000 — far beyond initial expectations — we know it can be very, very serious.
Using his own experience as the national standard, the president tweeted on Monday afternoon, “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. … I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”
The takeaway?
We’re a bunch of wussies for wearing face masks and taking other such precautions.
Physicians and mental health experts, meanwhile, are shaking their heads in exasperation.
We must respect the lethality of this virus and especially those on the front lines dealing with it, and yes, your loss is to be grieved.
THE PRESIDENT is all about winners and losers.
Which is why he maintains his administration has done a fabulous job of handling the pandemic. And the death toll?
“It could have been much worse,” he said.
Or better.
Of the world’s industrialized nations, the United States far and away has the most deaths per capita from the virus.
After last week’s Rose Garden super-spreader soiree, 18 of Trump’s inner circle have now tested positive for the virus, proof of its easy transmittance.
There was a glimmer of hope that the president’s contracting COVID would give him some insight as to what others have been experiencing. On Friday night he tweeted, “I’ve learned a lot about COVID. I get it. … It’s a very interesting thing.”
But the empathy never followed.
How comforting it would have been had the president said, “Boy, I was scared there for a minute when the doctors said I needed to be hospitalized.
