It’s been four days since the world learned that President Donald Trump had contracted COVID-19, and many Americans still don’t know what to feel, who to accept as true, and what to expect precisely.
Despite alarming enough symptoms that doctors administered oxygen and several competitive rounds of treatment, Trump tweeted Monday: “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let him dominate your life. ” Returning to the White House after spending three nights at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, his doctor Sean Conley noted that he had not yet “out of danger. “
Before entering the White House, where a COVID-19 epidemic is unfolding, Trump turned to his helicopter and took off his mask on live television, it is known if he put it back inside.
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The spectrum of reactions in the days following Trump’s diagnosis reflects the complexity of the existing moment. Trump’s fervent supporters, usually without masks, piled up over the weekend in front of Walter Reed with balloons and bouquets of flowers. Some of Trump’s top notable ideological critics have called. for an early recovery, former President Barack Obama and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow added, a common critique of Trump, who tweeted that “this virus is terrible and ruthless; no one would want their anger against anyone. “
But other social media users have argued that the president received what he deserved, the suffering and existential uncertainty that some say his pandemic mismanagement has caused too many Americans. Yolanda Pierce, dean of Howard University’s Faculty of Theology, tweeted, “I will not make false courtesies in the presence of evil. “
Social media platforms issued warnings over the weekend recalling that they would be suspended for expressing the hope of Trump’s death.
However, what many Americans feel is far more nuanced than sympathy or presumption: a human being, even a divider, has contracted a rarely fatal virus that can bring him to life. He contracted the virus a month before a very important presidential election. An unheard-of wonder in October. The course of Trump’s recovery, and the behaviors he exhibits and after, can influence the public’s view of the COVID-19 threat.
Many others are debated between their feelings and their values, between punishment and reason.
“This moment reflects the fact that we can feel several contradictory things at the same time and it’s very confusing,” said Vaile Wright, senior director of fitness care innovation at the American Psychology Association. “Regardless of what you think of this specific president, no one needs to be in this scenario where not only are things uncertain, but they are precariously uncertain. “
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Trump’s medical team has provided combined messages about his health, and officials first claimed that the president had a “mild” case of COVID-19 and then did not reveal the extent of his symptoms. Barbara Perry, co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, said.
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“This is the only presidential precedent he’s ever followed,” he said. “Most presidents don’t need to be open about their ailments for apparent reasons, especially when they are within 30 days of the election itself. “
The Trump administration’s sagacity may not be an anomaly, but it adds to a climate of chaos and confusion.
A Reuters/Ipsos public opinion ballot released Sunday found that more than 30% of respondents expressed doubts about Trump’s diagnosis. A recent Gallup vote found that nearly 60% of respondents have little or no confidence in Trump-led executive power.
Feelings about the pandemic have been drastically divided by partisan arguments and how Trump’s price lists may be the way his supporters understand the risk of the virus. If Trump escapes temporarily and relatively unscathed, some wonder if he can only reinforce the myth that he is not. serious enough to avoid this, further discouraging others from complying with public fitness recommendations.
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On the contrary, if Trump doesn’t recover right away, he can inspire skeptics to take the virus more seriously.
“Yes, I would be older if no one suffered. But if Trump’s suffering is the way the overall amount of suffering and death from the virus drastically decreases, then it’s not thinking of it as a smart thing in general,” Peter Singer said. , ethical philosopher and professor of bioethics at Princeton University’s Center for Human Values.
Nearly three-quarters of U. S. adults say Trump did not take the threat of getting COVID-19 seriously, according to an ABC News/Ipsos ballot released Sunday. Earlier this year, Trump said “the coronavirus is very under control” and in February said instances were “going to be reduced to near zero. “
More than 210,000 Americans have died from the virus.
Since consecutive announcements that Trump and his adviser Hope Hicks tested positive for coronavirus, at least twelve other people who were in close contact with them have also been infected.
The ABC ballot found that since Trump’s diagnosis, the percentage of Americans involved in themselves or who know they will play COVID-19 has increased from 72% to 81%. The number of other people who say they are very concerned has increased from 29% to 37%. The increases are basically attributed to Republicans and independents, who saw an 18% increase and 13% increase in overall concern, respectively.
Some other people disagree with Trump’s diagnosis because they believe he is, at least in part, to blame for the crisis.
“I am not a devoted person, but if I was, I could say that there is a kind of divine punishment in the fact that someone who does not comply with AmericansArray . . . you must get the disease and suffer it,” Singer told me. ” It appeals to anyone’s emotions of retribution. “
Psychologists say Trump’s diagnosis may give the impression that the universe is correcting a mistake.
“There’s a general point of will for others to be responsible for their actions, and in some tactics I think other people find that maybe they can fill that space,” Wright said. “But I think some of us lately are motivated by our feelings than by our values. I think frustration, worry and kind of tension outweigh our cognitive ability to be reasonable. “
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Social media also provides a position for others to express emotions that in the afterlife would have felt but not widely exposed.
“My mother, a lifelong Democrat and SDF in part, ” said Perry. “Roosevelt passed away and she was very upset, but that morning she shared the car to go and paint with her most productive friend from elementary school, who has become my stepmother, showing that my mom had no political grudge, and said, “I can just say happy bernadine. “
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“We try not to judge ourselves too harshly,” Wright said. “A lot of things are happening right now. “
In a video recorded Sunday from his hospital, Trump insisted that he nevertheless perceives the pandemic. He “perceives. “
And yet, on Monday, the president told him “don’t let him dominate you” and “don’t be afraid of that,” and warned that he may now be immune to the virus. House turned down an offer from the CDC to lead the effort to track down and tell Americans exposed to the developing epidemic related to Trump and his most sensitive aides.
Trump downplays the risk again, as public fitness experts warned from the start.
“I think the most productive way to hold Trump accountable is in the upcoming election, and then it probably wouldn’t be a random kind of thing about who gets the virus and who doesn’t, because the other right people also get the virus. like the bad guys . . . It will be a trial of most Americans, ” said Singer. “This would be the most appropriate way to make a judgment about your presidency. “