The COVID Wave at the DNC Was Not a 'Surprise'

The Democrats used their biggest platform to continue the grand old tradition of pretending COVID no longer exists.

Dominic Gwinn via Getty Images

Fun story: A few weeks ago, I tested positive for COVID for the third time in the last 12 months after avoiding it entirely prior to September 2023. Every single one of my cases happened after instances of travel, even when I masked and took general precautions.

I’m very lucky in that I’m not immunocompromised, I work from home with a flexible job, have access to healthcare, and that each of my cases has been less severe than the last. I’m okay now! Still: shit sucks! 

When I was in the throes of my most recent illness, it helped (sort of) to know that I wasn’t an unusual case (the COVID shame is still very real and yes I’m working on it). I already knew that 2024’s brat summer had given way to surge summer, and that I’d be lucky to emerge unscathed. In fact, I’d wager a guess that nearly everyone reading this blog has either had COVID themselves in the last few months, or knows 10 to 20 people who did. I fall into both categories (brag) which might either be a Californian thing or just an American thing. 

This, increasingly, seems to be the way it is now. While not entirely like influenza yet, there’s a sense that four-plus years in, this COVID thing will simply be a part of life from now on. It’s become a frustrating nuisance for many, and remains a terrifying threat to many others. Still, in the greater public consciousness, COVID no longer puts a pause on life, no matter how imminent the threat of infection may be. 

Cue the Democratic National Convention: 

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A lot of tweets and this NBC News story called COVID the “surprise” guest at the DNC. Yes, it’s a little nod to the mirage of Beyoncé, the surprise guest who never materialized last week. But let’s be honest, it doesn’t feel entirely cheeky either. While many people saw the superspreader outcome coming from a mile away, others seemed to be genuinely taken off guard—or at least very performative in their supposed ignorance.

Take this eerie CNN interview in which a reporter actually says to a healthcare professional and attendee, "What is it like being in a room where four years ago this would have been a superspreader event?" Ahhhhhh! Truly, it’s like they pulled a cut scene from And Just Like That… where the girls attend a political event and oh wait they did that one already, never mind.

Even our own physically precarious president was on trend and had the virus this summer (also not for the first time), just months after the White House loosened its COVID protocols for people coming into contact with both Biden and Harris. Biden also did not wear a mask after testing positive, even though the CDC recommends (but doesn’t mandate) it. Way to stay on message, Joe! 

To that end, am I actually surprised that the DNC organizers ignored the writing on the wall and forged ahead with their coronation event without putting any measures in place to help ensure the health and safety of the attendees? Absolutely not. This is an administration that just earlier this year suspended free at-home COVID tests, and eased mask recommendations and isolation guidelines for COVID-positive people, supposedly in pursuit of making the rules more “simple.” And even before that shift, Biden had a long history of brushing off COVID despite the fact that it has been, and remains, very present. 

To be fair, many attendees also probably knew that the likelihood of infection was high, considering they were entering a closed space with tens of thousands of people during a much-publicized spike for several days in a row. They accepted the consequences, just as I have every time I’ve traveled or gone to a crowded place. But it’s also fair to say that perhaps not everyone knew the precise risk they were taking, and not everyone necessarily had a choice about attending. 

This also isn’t strictly about personal responsibility, especially as it becomes more difficult to push against a tide of public opinion, and the messaging from the government continues to be “Hey, don’t worry about it.” Ordinary people are one thing. But the White House has no excuse to be so irresponsible and dangerous. It’s as if the administration is simply sitting back and watching COVID’s classification move from “pandemic” to “endemic,” confident in the knowledge that there’s absolutely nothing they could have done about it. It’s entirely outside of their control! 

We’ll never know exactly how many people were infected at the DNC (or throughout this summer), but when asked about the numbers, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s communications director told The Chicago Sun-Times, “Too many. I can’t even put a number on it.” I feel truly sorry for everyone who got sick, but this is the exact outcome that I (and anyone with a passing familiarity with the state of public health) could have expected. It’s the circumstance we’re living in.

It’s also just another case of those in charge forging ahead with their Very Important plans despite the collateral damage they know they’ll inflict along the way, with fingers firmly planted in both ears. Instead of “la, la, la” they’re saying: Fend for yourselves, don’t complain, and don’t question the story we’re telling. Even if it doesn’t fit with your reality.