White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows holds his head in his hands after a briefing by Donald Trump’s doctors outside Walter Reed Medical Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland, October 3, 2020 (Erin Scott/Reuters)
1. Are steroids contributing to Trump’s erratic behavior?
Part of Trump’s treatment is the steroid dexamethasone, normally used only in severe cases of the virus. But dexamethasone can have the side effects of mania and even psychosis. Are the steroids contributing to Trump’s erratic behavior — like suddenly ordering a halt to negotiations on a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package, calling the FBI “Scum,” declaring the “most corrupt Election in American History,” and accusing the US Food and Drug Administration of a “Political Hit Job” for insisting on health and safety guidelines for a coronavirus vaccine?
Likely answer:
This could just be “Trump being Trump”. But it may also be a drug that’s taking “Trump being Trump” into manic overdrive amid the pressure of the election run-in. Even the President’s eldest son Don Jr. reportedly thinks his father is acting crazy.
2. Why does the White House continue to stonewall questions about Trump’s last negative test before he confirmed the positive result last Thursday?
Likely answer:
Trump may not have taken a required test before meeting Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the first presidential debate on September 30, three days before going to hospital.
3. Why are Trump’s staff not contacting attendees at the Rose Garden ceremony for supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on September 26?
Likely answer:
Tracking and tracing all the possible subsequent infections would reveal the extent of the “super-spreader” event — at least 15 high-profile White House and Republican figures have tested positive since last Thursday — and cast a shadow over Trump’s unprecedented rush to get Barrett confirmed before election Day on November 3.
4. Who is left in the White House to handle Trump as the virus spreads?
Hardline anti-immigration advisor Stephen Miller is the latest to test positive. Trump’s confidante Hope Hicks was the first to go last week, campaign manager Bill Stepien and long-time booster Kellyanne Conway followed, and chief cheerleader Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was a positive this weekend.
So who remains? Daughter Ivanka Trump has fled the West Wing. Hardline economic adviser Peter Navarro — big on the “China virus” line — is around. Chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow will keep trying to spin the all-is-well narrative, even with more than 26 million Americans claiming unemployment. After revealing the seriousness of Trump’s condition last Saturday, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is trying to make amends with TV appearances praising the president’s wondrous recovery.
Likely answer:
Ultimately, as Trump continues on his Twitter sprees, the impression is that there is no one to handle him on the personal side. Melania? Trump has yet to mention his wife’s own asymptomatic coronavirus infection.
5. Will voters buy the Trump “strongman defeats virus” narrative after his Mussolini-homage pose for photos on the White House balcony on Monday night, or look instead at US death toll of almost 212,000?
Likely answer:
The early evidence is the latter. Joe Biden has extended his national polling lead, with an 8% to 11% margin. One survey, from CNN, put him ahead 57%-41%. More importantly, Biden has reinforced his lead in almost all of the 13 swing states that will decide the election. He is secure in the vital hub of Pennsylvania-Michigan-Wisconsin — the three states that gave Trump victory in 2016 — and is even ahead in normally-Republican Georgia.
