I would have thought I’d experience a healthy shot of schadenfreude after learning that Donald Trump had contracted the coronavirus, but I find that all I can muster is an eye roll. There’s no question that he brought this on himself, but I’m disinclined to gloat, not because I have any sympathy for Trump but because the country just doesn’t need another disruption that further compounds our uncertainty about the future.
Trump’s positive Covid-19 test raises a raft of questions that the news media have already begun to address, and other questions which can’t be answered yet.
What if Trump becomes deathly ill between now and Election Day? What happens if he dies, or is so incapacitated that his cabinet chooses to invoke the 25th Amendment and Mike Pence becomes president before the election?
I haven’t learned yet what happens if he becomes severely ill but remains president, but if he dies or is relieved of the presidency, the Republican National Committee would choose another candidate to run against Biden. That could be Mike Pence but doesn’t have to be.
It may be too late to change the ballots is some or all states, so there might still be a lot of ballots cast for the late President, but it’s not the vote on November 3 that determines who will be president. That determination is made by the Electoral College, which this year votes on December 14. The electors from states in which Trump won would be expected to vote for whichever replacement candidate their party chose, though I understand they are not legally obligated to do so.
There’s more — like what happens if the winning candidate dies after the Electoral College votes, or after the new Congress convenes on January 6, but all of that will doubtless be discussed ad nauseam in the media in the days ahead.
Fortunately all of these peculiar possibilities can be addressed by our staunch defenders of the Constitution…our members of Congress and Supreme Court! Right?
Sadly, the wounds that Trump has left us with, the deep partisan anger, the rapid decline in civility, and the erosion of trust in all institutions will not subside, even if he somehow leaves us. Beyond the strong feeling that he brought this on himself, what I’m left with at the moment is relief that for at least a little while we don’t have to hear his voice. Yes, we’ll all obsess over all the twists and turns of his health and the Byzantine political machinations around these events, but I long for quiet. Trump’s noise is exhausting. I believe we all need a rest from it. Everybody stay safe and healthy.