How could Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis impact the election? Here’s what we know
The presidential election wasn’t delayed by the Civil War in 1864, the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 or the threat of a terrorist attack in 2004. Will Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis be different?
It’s not likely, experts say.
The president announced Friday in the early morning hours on Twitter that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus — just 32 days before the Nov. 3 election. Trump was experiencing “mild” symptoms as of late Friday morning.
It’s not the first scenario this year that’s raised the question of postponing the election.
Trump suggested it two months ago in response to unfounded claims of mail-in voting fraud, saying the election should be delayed “until people can properly, securely and safely vote,” The New York Times reported.
But that power doesn’t lie with the president — it belongs to Congress.
What would need to happen
The power to determine when Election Day is held is outlined under Article II of the U.S. Constitution: “The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.”
It was established by federal law in 1845 “as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November,” Newsweek reported.
Congress would need to alter the law for the date to change.
That means the bill would have to pass in both the U.S. House of Representatives — which is controlled by Democrats — and the Senate — which is controlled by Republicans, according to Newsweek. Trump would then need to sign it.
“To call that unlikely would be an understatement,” the Times reported in July.
Even then, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution mandates the president’s term expire at noon on Jan. 20, regardless of whether a new leader has been elected, according to Quartz. Without a winner, the speaker of the House would become acting president.
The framers of the Constitution intentionally put limits “that make postponing an election more trouble than it’s worth,” National Geographic reported.
“The United States has never delayed a presidential election and only moved it for administrative reasons twice — both within the first 60 years of the country’s founding,” according to the network. “And presidential elections have never been delayed due to a national crisis — not even the Civil War or the Great Depression.”
The threat of a potential terrorist attack during the 2004 election — three years after the Sept. 11 attacks — led to some speculation that it would be delayed.
But Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser for then-President George W. Bush, shut the discussion down in an interview with CNN, the Times reported at the time.
“We’ve had elections in this country when we were at war, even when we were in civil war,” she said. “And we should have the elections on time. That’s the view of the president, that’s the view of the administration.”
What about the debates?
It wasn’t immediately clear Friday how Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis might effect the next presidential debate with Joe Biden on Oct. 15 in Miami, ABC News reported.
But former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson told Fox & Friends Trump will “absolutely” be ready.
“Once he tests negative twice, you know, he should be safe to go back to, you know, to his normal routine, and that will be well before the next debate,” Jackson said, adding that the president is “in great physical health otherwise.”
Still, medical experts say Trump’s age, sex and weight put him at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus. Some warn that the illness “can escalate quickly” after the early stages of infection, NBC News reported.
Boston University associate professor and presidential historian Thomas Whalen told NBC10 Boston it’s too soon to say whether the debates will move forward as scheduled.
“I still think we need to be updated on President Trump’s condition before anything can be decided,” he said, according to the TV station.
But, given the circumstances, Whalen told NBC10 he doubted an ill president participating in a debate “would be appropriate.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 1:22 PM with the headline "How could Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis impact the election? Here’s what we know."
