With thirty days until the election, the nation will be paying close attention to the progression of President Donald Trump’s diagnosis and how it will impact the future of the oval office. News of President Trump’s diagnosis warranted various reactions from students at Moorestown Friends School.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Past comments made by President Trump suggest that he underestimated the impact of COVID-19. On April 3, 2020, in a White House coronavirus task force briefing, President Trump said, “I said it was going away- and it is going away.” When this remark was made, there were 273,880 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States. Since then, that number has increased to 7,310,625 cases, showing that COVID-19 has definitely not gone away.
Michael Kraft’s ’21 perspective on this situation differed from that of McAllister’s. “My reaction was very shocked and scared because at the end of the day he is our president and regardless of policy, he’s human and should be treated like one,” said Kraft.
Kraft pointed to one tweet in particular, posted by the Washington Post, that aggravated him. The tweet reads, “Opinion: Imagine what it will be like to never have to think about Trump again.”
President Trump’s current health status brings about conversation of the 25th Amendment, which states, “In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.” If President Trump would be unable to fulfill his presidential duties due to severe illness from COVID-19, Vice President Mike Pence would finish out his term.
McAllister said she thinks that the health status of the President provides some uncertainty, especially with the election looming. “I think that the future of his presidency is very uncertain now,” she said. “His voter base will now have to recognize that the pandemic is not a hoax, and that is something that I believe scares them. Trump, in essence, has preached safety and security during a turbulent period of time, and now [President Trump’s] supporters don’t have that.”
Despite the uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s health and future, Kraft, who is a first time voter, is not deterred from his excitement around his first-time voting: “I am excited as a first-time voter because I feel as if this is the early stages of adulthood for myself and gaining more personal responsibilities.”
Not until Tuesday, November 3, will the American people see the effect this diagnosis has on the election.
