For me, Trump Is Like Long COVID. Since he won the 2024 election, I have really struggled to write and post articles to my website, Political Pawns And Puppets. Yes, I was able to write and post a couple of articles right after the election but suddenly after that, it was like I fell flat on my face; I felt totally incapacitated. I mean, when I reflect on it, in terms of how I feel now when I try to motivate myself to write an article and compare how I feel to that of the symptoms of Long COVID, they seem to match perfectly.
Here is how it works. Kind of like when you first catch COVID, when Trump won the first time back in 2016, I was depressed, disgusted, and discouraged. I thought, this is a tough pill to swallow but the voters have spoken and I, along with others who did not vote for Trump, will just have to ride this out for four years until the 2020 presidential election. I further thought, even though these Trump voters should already know who Trump really is based on his track record, this does not seem to be the case. But if all of us voters just hang in there and stay in the fight for four years – after they see how he conducts himself, surely, he will never hold the office of President of the United States of America again. I even wrote a few articles back then stating how it would be a rough ride but we must buckle up, hang in there, and keep fighting until his term was over.
And so it was: Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. I was elated! Donald Trump’s time of making America look foolish, become the laughingstock of the world, and, in my opinion, work her way toward becoming the grift capitol of the world, was over. I felt rejuvenated and motivated to write again; to encourage people to always do their civic duty, which includes voting. I was fired up and ready to go even though while he was still in office, Trump said that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from him. Stop the steal, he said! Although this rhetoric continued long after the election – I had no idea that it would still be going on during the 2024 election – I continued to feel pretty good.
Then, as timed passed and Trump was indicted in multiple states on various charges, faced and was convicted of 34 felony counts in one of these states, and announced about two years ahead of time that he would run for president in2024, my “pretty good” feeling was waning. Then, Long COVID-like symptoms set in: I thought that I was over struggling with Trump’s antics and what would he do next. But it was not to be. I quickly went from elated to devastated. Would I already have to start writing again about Trump’s antics and how he was sucking up all the air in the room? Yes.
At that time my thoughts were, but that is okay. American voters have a long way to go until the 2024 election. So, I wrote articles, a lot of them about Trump, and posted them. I continued to encourage all eligible voters, whether they were Democrats, Republicans, or Independents, to always vote. As time passed, once again, I began to feel pretty good again. Trump had been forced to go to court on the numerous charges he was facing and it looked as if he would finally be held to account, for the first time in his life, for at least, all these things he had allegedly done wrong. Whether he would be proven innocent or guilty remained to be seen. So, I thought, Faced with all these legal problems, he would ultimately give up on all his crazy thoughts about becoming president in 2024. Wrong.
Trump continued to say that he had done nothing wrong, that all the negative things that were going on were politically motivated, and that this was just an attempt to interfere with him running for president; it was election interference, he said! My Long COVID-like symptoms had reached a plateau and I was still writing and posting articles. It was more of a struggle than before, but it was still somewhat enjoyable and, at least, I was still writing and posting. While Trump was going through all the court appearances that he was forced to make, it appeared that accountability was inevitable.
However, many times, he would come outside the courtroom, where the press were always eagerly waiting, during breaks and hold mini press conferences. There were times during these mini conferences when sitting Republican congresspersons would show up and stand behind him in a show of solidarity. On one occasion, even Speaker of the House Mike Johnson made an appearance. Teflon Trump seemed to be once again be making progress toward avoiding accountability: My Long COVID-like symptoms got worse. My motivation was waning and my ability to write and post articles dropped to a new low.
Even with my waning motivation and the drop in my ability to write and post articles, I managed to press forward. President Biden and Trump agreed to have at least two debates before the election and had scheduled a date for the first one. When the debate was held, it was a complete disaster for President Biden. Trump clearly won the debate. In the eyes of some Democrats President Biden had performed so poorly that many of them began pressuring him to withdraw as the nominee and allow someone else to replace him. President Biden refused. Although the pressure for him to withdraw got stronger and continued to rise, he resisted it until about 107 days before Election Day. When he withdrew, he immediately endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement. With that endorsement, it did not take long for Vice President Harris to win enough votes to officially become the nominee.
Vice President Harris had about 90 days to get her campaign up-and-running to win the election. She worked hard and tirelessly to define herself to the American people and present her policies to us. Vice President Harris and her team did a yeoman’s job and her chances of winning looked great! Democrats were cautiously optimistic. But Trump had been campaigning unofficially for four years and officially since he announced that he would run for president in 2024. Republicans seemed extremely confident that Trump would win. They were confident to the point of being giddy and this worried many Democrats.
As Election Day 2024 approached, I wrote and posted articles that included an Election Day countdown. Finally, that day had arrived and votes were starting to be counted. It wasn’t long before all Democrats found out that those “many Democrats” were right to worry. As the votes continued to be counted it became clear that Trump would win. And so it was: Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election to Donald Trump. Enter the worse stage of Long COVID-like symptoms. I was completely devastated! It was as if all hope was lost. It was as if I were in a daze. I knew that I was there but due to the stupor that I was in, I did not feel depressed, disgusted, and discouraged. I was also devoid of disappointment, hurt, frustration, anger, and all emotions. It was like I was there but I wasn’t. This daze phase only lasted for days but it seemed like a lot more than days; it felt like months!
For a long time after the daze phase I did not feel like writing: I was not in the mood for it. I felt like I needed to write but when I would sit down in front of my keyboard, I couldn’t. Nothing would come to me… until now. So, here I am again; writing to encourage you to buckle up, hang in there, and keep fighting. Trump has begun to assemble his cabinet and his selections indicates that it will be replete with billionaires and other questionable characters that are loyal to him even if they have zero experience. This is not indicative of a president who has America’s interest at heart and who is dedicated to putting America and the American people above his personal interest and political ambitions. This is completely unacceptable and can only be stopped by Americans staying engaged in the fight and, ultimately, by our votes.
So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!
Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line