Imagine there’s no Covid. It’s not that easy even if you try, since the pandemic fogs up everything now. But what would the presidential election look like if the novel coronavirus had never escaped Wuhan? Who would be winning?
It‘s easy to think that President Trump would be cruising towards re-election. He would be swanning around the country touting his Greatest Economy Ever. The crisis would not have revealed his eccentric attitudes towards the human body and medicinal cures. His strange and erratic reactions to the virus would not have left voters wondering how America ended up with a conspiracy theorist billionaire in charge.
Trump would probably still be talking about the Democrats’ dubious attempt to remove him by impeachment. That was a major news event in February and one that makes Trump’s opponents look silly. It feels like a century ago now.
Trump doesn’t do conventional politics — he would likely have triggered some other crisis
Joe Biden, meanwhile, would be far more exposed.
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