"President Trump Hospitalized with the COVID-19" Shows a Severity of the US Politics

On 1st October 2020, US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus[1] and President Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center the next evening with the White House's statement as mild COVID-19 symptoms[2].

As of 2nd October, who have tested positive are President Trump, Ms. Trump, Mr. Bill Stepien (President Trump's manager), Ms. Ronna McDaniel (the Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee), Mr. Hope Hicks (one of President Trump's most senior advisers), Ms. Kellyanne Conway (the former top White House adviser), Reverend John I. Jenkins (the President of the University of Notre Dame) and other two senators[3].

There is no doubt that we hope they recover soon. At the same time, we need to consider the worst-case scenario.

If President Trump is unable to perform his duties, Vice President Michael Pence will succeed to the presidency. However, when Vice President Pence is also ill and unable to perform his duties, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President pro tempore of the United States Senate Charles Grassley, and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo will succeed to the office, in the order that they are listed.

When a successor from Speaker Pelosi onward takes charge of the presidency, it would be the first time since Congressman Gerald Ford, who became the Vice President of the Nixon administration after replacement of Vice President Spiro Agnew due to a scandal, was elevated to the presidency following Nixon's resignation in 1974. In this moment, we will have a president who had not been elected to office.

The fact that the possibility of a "presidential succession" has arisen in the midst of a presidential election is troubling. IT suggests that the detrimental effects of public presidential elections have been unexpectedly evident.

Anyway, President Trump received a single dose of an antibody cocktail made by the biotech Regeneron[4].

While there are concerns about the side effects of receiving a medicine undergoing clinical trials, it is such a strong indication of President Trump's willingness to make a quick recovery.

President Trump's measures to use even his illness for his presidential campaign may be political in nature. But, in a sense, it is symbolic of the severity of politics.

[1]Donald J. Trump. "Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!". 1:54 PM, 2nd October 2020, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1311892190680014849 (accessed on 3rd October 2020).
[2]Trump Hospitalized With Coronavirus. The New York Times, 2nd October 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/02/us/politics/trump-hospitalized-with-coronavirus.html (accessed on 3rd October 2020).
[3]Trump to Undergo Tests at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The New York Times, 2nd October 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/10/02/world/covid-19-coronavirus (accessed on 3rd October 2020).
[4]President Trump Received Experimental Antibody Treatment. The New York Times, 2nd October 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/02/health/trump-antibody-treatment.html (accessed on 3rd October 2020).

<要旨>
「トランプ大統領の新型コロナウイルスへの感染」が示す米国の政治の厳しさ (鈴村裕輔)

現地時間の10月1日、米国のドナルド・トランプ大統領が新型コロナウイルスに感染したことを公表し、軍の病院に入院した。トランプ大統領は臨床試験中の治療薬の投与を受けるなどして回復に努めているものの、大統領職を遂行できない場合には大統領継承問題が生じることになる。現在米国では大統領選挙が終盤を迎えているだけに、今後の動向が注目される。