What if he does have it?

| 5:55 pm EDT March 14, 2020
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Multiple major news outlets are now reporting that RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel is ill and she’s awaiting coronavirus test results. We have a very low opinion of her, but we wish her well on this; we wouldn’t wish this virus on anyone. That said, if she does have it, then she caught it at Mar-a-Lago.

Logically speaking, what are the odds that Ronna McDaniel caught the coronavirus during last week’s Mar-a-Lago gathering, but Donald Trump and Mike Pence somehow didn’t? Trump claimed this evening that he tested negative, but there’s no reason to believe him. We’re now facing the very real possibility that Trump and/or Pence has coronavirus and that one or both of them becomes ill this upcoming week. So what happens then?

If Trump becomes too physically ill to do the job, he’s supposed to send a letter voluntarily invoking the 25th Amendment, putting Pence in charge. Trump would then be able to take back the presidency at any time, simply by sending another letter. The question is whether Trump, who is hanging onto the presidency by a thread and who has severe psychological failings, would ever agree to do this.

If Trump got sick enough, Pence could forcibly invoke the 25th Amendment with the support of the majority of the cabinet. If Trump were so sick that he were, say, unconscious, the cabinet would likely go along with him on this.

If Trump and Pence both get too sick to govern, Pence could temporarily remove Trump via the 25th Amendment, and then temporarily remove himself as well, thus allowing next in line Nancy Pelosi to handle any presidential decisions that might arise while they were sick. But considering how reluctant Trump and Pence could be to the idea of Acting President Pelosi, let’s just say that it could all get rather chaotic.