After a debate that left the whole world stunned, now Donald Trump catches COVID-19. A joke is currently circulating on social media: Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is said to have successfully argued her first case before God …
However, Trump’s doctors are some of the best in the world. Trump should heal. He will brag about it. We can already hear him say that his doctors had never seen anyone recover as well as him. Narcissism is more difficult to cure than COVID-19.
As usual, COVID-19 ruthlessly exposes the weaknesses of states. In the United States, COVID-19 has this time underlined that the keys to power are in the hands of a gerontocracy.
Voting intentions in the United States appear to be set in stone. If Trump survives COVID-19 without major damage, his supporters will claim he is strong and healthy. Trump is far from over.
Contempt
Trump, and with him much of the American political class, suffers from another disease, even more serious: the contempt it engenders. Is American democracy only capable of producing dangerous or second-rate leaders? Why has none of the major parties succeeded in electing a strong candidate who respects democracy?
Among Democrats, it is because Dowagers Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi weigh heavily on the choice of candidates. Among Republicans, this is because the top leaders are prostitutes willing to sell themselves to any group, from the Tea Party to the Evangelists, as long as those groups get them enough votes to stay in power.
Social changes
American society is changing profoundly. Minorities become the majority. Despite everything, these social changes shape the Democratic Party since a Kamala Harris is Biden’s running mate. Republicans reject this social change. This denial pushes them down the path of authoritarianism.
This is one of the reasons Trump can say so openly about dictatorship.
Doctors usually say that pneumonia is the friend of old people. Will COVID-19 be the friend of democracy?