Tim Stanley
‘Trump and Pence is a same-sex marriage of convenience with little romance’
‘It is fitting that the US president is gripped by a sickness even some of his supporters don’t even believe exists’
After several days of drama − from tax returns to a Supreme Court fight − we now add a presidential illness, and it’s the last thing the United States needs. From a human perspective, it’s horrible − obviously. From a political perspective, it adds uncertainty to a process already straining at the seams. We are not sure when the final election results will be known thanks to postal voting, and Mr Trump has already questioned the outcome − accusing the Democrats of fraud.
And when you’re president, a personal drama becomes a constitutional one.
The Democrat vice presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, was already in the spotlight thanks to Joe Biden’s age: it’s anticipated that she would play a critical role in a Biden administration and perhaps take over in four years’ time. Now the Republican VP nominee matters, too − in a plot twist, also for reasons of health.
Mike Pence is slightly to the Right of Donald Trump on social and economic issues, although he is a more orthodox conservative on free trade and war.
He was put on the ticket in 2016 to act as a bridge to the religious Right and to reassure regular Republicans. It was a same-sex marriage of convenience with little romance: Pence joined him for a round of golf, and Trump joked afterwards that he wasn’t sure he should select someone that bad at the game. In recent months, however, Pence has shot up in Trump’s estimation because he’s taken on much of the Covid leg-work and he is loyal, which means never stealing the limelight. What Trump will think when Pence debates Harris next Wednesday remains to be seen.
Covid-19 is the number one issue now, although it has been so since February, regardless of the occasional scandal or twitterstorm. Trump is very good at switching and controlling the issue agenda, but even he can’t work miracles. The US constitution, however, is strong. It’s designed for moments like these, for the correct divisions of power and the maintenance of continuity. The machinery ticks along; the drama is human. John Podhoretz, the veteran conservative commentator observed that it’s fitting that the most unconventional US president brings this term to a close in the most unconventional way, gripped by a sickness that some of his supporters don’t even believe exists.