Trump's coronavirus diagnosis presents America with new clear, present dangers
02 October 2020
The coronavirus' threat to America is no longer confined by geography or demographics.
Why it matters: With the positive test for President Trump, the risks are real and immediate.
National security: Administration officials recognize that China and other powers know the U.S. is distracted, and could use this as a window for adventurism or even aggression.
- Hotspots around the world are on fire, including China's escalation of territorial disputes in the South China Sea — as well as a border standoff between China and India the world's two most populous countries.
Economic: After summer signs of life, the economy is struggling again, with tens of thousands of layoffs this week by Disney and airlines.
- Now, with markets racked by uncertainty, businesses won't be getting the signals they need to encourage reopening — let alone return to semi-normal.
Social: So many Americans had gotten lazy about virus protection, in part because huge swaths of the public felt untouched by it.
- That's gone. The virus penetrated the most secure house in the world. Anyone who feels safe from the virus is foolish.
- Any stigma that went with masks — always unfounded — should vanish.
Political: With 32 days to go before an election that both sides call the most vital in American history, the incumbent, age 74, is temporarily off the campaign trail.
- The challenger — Joe Biden, 77 — has been super-cautious about his public appearances, and now has a host of new questions about his own plans.
- Everything, including the three remaining debates, is now on uncharted terrain.
What's next: Those are all risks now. If the president were to show symptoms, the disruption would multiply even further.
- The next Trump-Biden debate is 13 days away — 14 days from the moment Trump said he'd quarantine.
Go deeper:
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.