A Weekend That Harrowed.

Not since 1963 did America realistically face the possibility that its President could be dying.  Of course, back then, President John F. Kennedy was truly killed, and the shockwaves of the news gripped the world, sending it into mourning and disbelief. This time, President Trump did not die, but his sudden illness and the uncertainty circling his condition and his future gripped us all.

Once again, demonstrations of deep-rooted concern and love for the President shone as millions took to social media to send their well wishes to the President.  Hundreds spontaneously assembled outside Walter Reed Hospital with signs and flags to express their support for him. Touchingly, at one point, the President returned his affection for the public when he sent Mark Meadows, his Chief of Staff, to distribute chocolate to those assembled there.  And on Sunday, the President, clad with a mask, drove in a sealed automobile to express his thanks to his supporters.

But it was not all love and concern that was expressed to the President.  The animus and incivility that has gripped the country over the past decade also left its mark.  Steven Cox, a candidate for Congress, publicly wished the President and Biden would both die, and not to be left behind, Zara Rahim, former spokesperson for Hillary Clinton, also disgustingly expressed her desire for the President’s death.

And then there was the parade of conspiracy theorists baselessly claiming that the whole thing was fabricated.  Michael Moore and Joy Reid maliciously suggested, without any evidence, that the President was just creating the story.  His allegations fell apart as the President was urgently transferred to the hospital, and one Republican after another fell ill.

Abandoning their mantra of not blaming the victim, many like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed the fate that had befallen the President resulted from his alleged failure to “follow science” and his alleged willingness to ignore mask mandates.  But throughout the weekend, word came of the incredibly strict precautions observed by the President and his staff, never to be acknowledged by the left wing media.

Perhaps the peak of the nation’s anxieties materialized Saturday morning when the public, deprived of any direct communication from the President since having checked into the hospital, feared he had taken a turn for the worse.  The situation was in no way relieved by a press conference held by his medical team that at times appeared cryptic. But nothing did more to reassure the public than the President’s appearance on video, later that afternoon and again on Sunday, to thank the public for its concerns and express his confidence in his abilities to defeat this illness and return to the business of leading our nation.

But what prevailed this weekend, as it always does, was the heroism of the nation’s unsung heroes along with America’s ingenuity and boldness.  Once again, those men and women who rush to the emergency and intervene with full confidence in their ultimate success, showed their metal and the reasons why we, as Americans, have such great confidence in them.  Additionally it was private sector that was ready with a medication it had been preparing for public consumption.  A monoclonal antibody cocktail from Regeneron and approved for compassionate use by the FDA was administered to the President, along with remdesevir, an RNA transcriptase inhibitor.  On Sunday, we learned he was also treated with Depo-Medrol, a steroid whose use in the treatment of COVID-19 is designed to stop the cytokine storm.  The success of the treatment regimen on a 74 year-old, somewhat overweight male who didn’t appear to skip a beat against an illness that had previously killed millions demonstrated the progress made in the combat against this disease.

The first weekend in October was truly one that harrowed.  It played upon our common fears and promoted the display of negativity and derision throughout the nation.  Ultimately though, it turned into one that united Americans, that allowed us to see the promise of our future, to view the best of our fellow Americans, and to experience the results of the progress we as a nation have made in our quest to defeat a pandemic that has paralyzed the world.

RELATED ARTICLES:

The President Delivers Video Message Saturday Night.
The President Showing Signs of Symptoms and Cough.
The President Received an Experimental Cocktail by Regeneron.
The President Receives Remdesevir.

EDITORS NOTE: This Federalist Pages column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

---