After a debate that left the whole world dumbfounded, now look, Donald Trump catches COVID-19. A joke is circulating now on social media: the former Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, must have successfully pleaded her first case before God ...
Nevertheless, Trump’s doctors are among the best in the world. Trump ought to get better. He will boast about it. We already hear him saying that his doctors have never seen someone recover as well as he has. Narcissism is harder to cure than COVID-19.
As usual, COVID-19 mercilessly exposes the weakness of the States. In the U.S., COVID-19 has just highlighted that the keys to power are in the hands of a gerontocracy.
Voting intentions in the United States seem to be stuck in concrete. If Trump survives COVID-19 without any great consequences, his supporters will claim that he is strong and in good health. Trump is far from being done in.
Scorn
Trump, and with him a large part of the American political class, suffers from another illness that is even more serious: The scorn that he creates. Is American democracy only able to produce dangerous or second-rate leaders? Why has neither large party been able to elect a strong candidate who is respected by democracy?
With the Democrats, it is because the dowagers Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi weigh heavily on the choice of candidates. With the Republicans, it’s because senior leadership are prostitutes who are ready to sell themselves to any group, from the Tea Party to the Evangelists, as long as these groups bring them enough votes to stay in power.
Social Changes
American society is profoundly changing. Minorities are becoming the majority. Despite everything, these social changes are shaping the Democratic Party, as evidenced by someone like Kamala Harris being Joe Biden’s running mate. The Republicans refuse to accept this social change. This denial pushes them down the path of authoritarianism.
This is one of the reasons why Trump can make dictatorial remarks so openly.
Doctors often say that pneumonia is a friend of old people. Will COVID-19 be a friend of democracy?
Secretary Rubio’s ‘diplomatic masterstroke’ in Delhi unintentionally transformed political damage control into an involuntary roast of his own boss.
A summit that would normally send a reassuring message ... faces total uncertainty thanks to the weakness of the United States. The only person to blame for this is Trump.
The Beijing summit did not produce a major agreement between the great powers on the region, but it firmly established that Middle Eastern crises are now deeply tied to the great-power dialogue.
During the Cold War, the United States occupied the apex of this triangular dynamic, pitting China and the USSR against each other. Today, it is Beijing that occupies that apex.
A summit that would normally send a reassuring message ... faces total uncertainty thanks to the weakness of the United States. The only person to blame for this is Trump.
The Beijing summit did not produce a major agreement between the great powers on the region, but it firmly established that Middle Eastern crises are now deeply tied to the great-power dialogue.
During the Cold War, the United States occupied the apex of this triangular dynamic, pitting China and the USSR against each other. Today, it is Beijing that occupies that apex.