Despite Trump's high-stakes 'Trump defeats COVID' gamble, 'the virus is now in charge of the campaign'


When President Trump was helicoptered to the hospital with COVID-19 on Friday, "some of his campaign advisers saw a potential opportunity," Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni report at The New York Times. If Trump recovered quickly "and then appeared sympathetic to the public in how he talked about his own experience and that of millions of other Americans, he could have something of a political reset" for his flagging campaign.
Instead, the Times notes, he told people not to fear the deadly virus, returned to the White House while still contagious, started selling "Donald J. Trump Defeats COVID" commemorative coins, and "framed the virus as something akin to a weekend at a spa."
Trump's theatrical hospital check-out and White House balcony scene "won him the TV news clip he's been dreaming of from his hospital bed," Sudeep Reddy and Myah Ward write at Politico, and what happens next is flushed with "Trumpian-level suspense." But Trump and his aides "know the virus is now in charge of the campaign," they add:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Already down in the polls, they're playing their hand the only way Trump can — betting it all on a quick presidential recovery, making Trump's physical strength a metaphor for the nation. If it works, Trump could have a shot at turning a crushing October embarrassment into a come-from-behind November surprise. ...If Trump takes a turn for the worse — some patients take weeks or months to recover from the virus at home — then his fate will be sealed before Election Day: He'll be the president who downplayed the virus while hundreds of thousands of Americans died, who mocked his opponent for following common-sense health guidelines, who shrugged off his own coronavirus threat to own the libs. [Politico]
Whatever happens with Trump's health and campaign, Politico says, "it's largely out of his hands now."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Book reviews: 'America, América: A New History of the New World' and 'Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson'
Feature A historian tells a new story of the Americas and the forgotten story of a pioneering preacher
-
Another messaging app used by the White House is in hot water
The Explainer TeleMessage was seen being used by former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
-
AI hallucinations are getting worse
In the Spotlight And no one knows why it is happening
-
Israel approves plan to take over Gaza indefinitely
speed read Benjamin Netanyahu says the country is 'on the eve of a forceful entry'
-
Putin talks nukes as Kyiv slated for US air defenses
speed read 'I hope they will not be required,' Putin said of nuclear weapons on Russian state TV
-
US, Ukraine sign joint minerals deal
speed read The Trump administration signed a deal with Ukraine giving the US access to its mineral wealth
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Israel launches air strike on Beirut suburbs
Speed Read The attack targeting Hezbollah was Israel's third on the Lebanese capital since November's ceasefire
-
Dozens dead in Kashmir as terrorists target tourists
Speed Read Visitors were taking pictures and riding ponies in a popular mountain town when assailants open fired, killing at least 26
-
Israel blames 'failures' for killing of medics
speed read 14 Gaza medics and 1 U.N. employee were killed by IDF special forces
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago