Trump's COVID test could change the coronavirus equation

President Trump’s positive COVID test could affect far-right math on the coronavirus pandemic.

Up to this point, the equations have not been difficult to solve. With every problem, the economy is valued more than human lives.

This “economy first” mindset was on full display in this week’s presidential debate.

Trump did note 204,000 Americans have died so far of coronavirus and related conditions, saying “even one person [dying] is too much.” But then he pivoted back to the economy, asserting “people want their schools open” and “they want their restaurants” and “their places open. They want to get back to their lives.”

Of course they do. But the majority of them want to do so safely, something made more difficult by the president’s uneven endorsement of mask-wearing and social-distancing guidelines.

When pressed, the president will say he supports both. But in reality, his campaign stops have often violated local and state health authorities, to the glee of many Trump supporters.

Ohioans saw this firsthand last month. When Trump appeared in Vandalia, crowds booed Lt. Gov. Jon Husted for suggesting they should wear masks. They similarly decried Gov. Mike DeWine, calling him “RINO” — Republican In Name Only — presumably because his policies, especially in the early days of the pandemic, put people ahead of profits.

During Tuesday’s debate, Trump also mocked Biden for wearing a mask too frequently.

Given the president’s positive COVID test, this mockery is tinged with irony, not to mention concern. Friday’s diagnosis carries an existential danger to the president. He is in the high-risk demographic for the virus and its most serious effects because of his age. His weight, too, is a factor.

Maybe the next few days — weeks? — will give him only more opportunities to tweet half-lies, to cast more doubt, largely without evidence, on the integrity of mail-in balloting, the peaceful transfer of power after the Nov. 3 election, and his ongoing grievances with a press he feels has been unfair to him.

But imagine a scenario where he admits he has been wrong and urges his followers to don masks, to stay away from large gatherings, to stay home when sick.

Imagine a scenario where these followers do exactly that, realizing their decision not to wear a mask affects more than them, that it impacts their families, co-workers and friends. Where they decide going into a place of business without a mask is not an example of don’t-tread-on-me patriotism but callow insensitivity.

Imagine a scenario where this single positive COVID diagnosis has a ripple effect throughout the country, where it allows us to change the calculation and do what many health experts say we could have done last spring and summer with a more unified governmental response: beat the virus.

Hey, I’m an eternal optimist, or maybe just hopelessly naive. In any event, I harbor no personal ill-will toward the president. He has been a liability for this nation, without a doubt, but I hope he and the first lady make a quick and full recovery.

I just hope that with it comes a new appreciation for the stakes. An empathy he has so far seldom exhibited would also be welcomed.

However, given the president’s track record of learning from his mistakes instead of doubling down on them, I’d say the odds are not in the public’s favor.

chris.schillig@yahoo.com

@cschillig on Twitter