President Trump’s valet and Vice-President Mike Pence’s press secretary have tested positive for COVID-19. Still, these men think that manly men don’t betray a fear of mere viruses, so they eschew masks and other common precautions. Thus, understandably, inquiring minds want to know what would happen if both of them got sick, which is entirely possible. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked about it on Thursday, and as Politico reports, she seemed shocked to learn that anyone doesn’t understand that Trump and Pence are divinely appointed supermen:
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany revealed Thursday there is no procedure in place to facilitate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ascension to the presidency should President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence become incapacitated by the coronavirus …
“That’s not even something that we’re addressing,” she told reporters. “We’re keeping the president healthy. We’re keeping the vice president healthy. And you know they’re healthy at this moment, and they’ll continue to be …”
Pressed on whether the prospect of a Pelosi presidency should be under discussion given the new coronavirus cases at the White House, McEnany reiterated: “The president’s healthy. The vice president’s healthy. And I think that’s something all reporters should be celebrating, and the American people, as well.”
I suppose the idea here is that it would take away from all that celebrating if White House staff looked into the operation of the 25th Amendment, which provides for an acting president in case POTUS (or anyone in the line of succession) becomes temporarily incapacitated. Then there is the problem that Pelosi has been a devil figure to Republicans for decades, featuring in a variety of fearmongering campaign ads suggesting that if given the opportunity, the speaker would subject God-fearing Heartland Americans to a regime of San Francisco hippies and sodomites, not to mention sodomite hippies.
Trump himself was asked earlier about Pelosi as acting president and reacted much as McEnany did:
Trump was similarly dismissive Wednesday when asked about Pelosi potentially taking his place in the Oval Office, asserting in an interview with Fox Business that “she would be a disaster” as president. “Never going to happen. We’ll keep our vice president very healthy, and I’ll stay healthy. Never going to happen,” he said.
Maybe not, but just saying it’s so doesn’t make it so, and you’d think once both the president and vice-president had been exposed to COVID-19, there would be some contingency planning. It should cross Pelosi’s mind, as well, though if it has, she’s not talking about it. Perhaps having recently tuned 80, she should be extra-careful about her own health. If she along with Trump and Pence were to become seriously ill, we’d be looking at the prospect of Acting President Chuck Grassley, who is 86 years young.
