“Trump has done more to derail the Barrett nomination than any Democrat,” said one dejected former senior White House official. “They are screwing themselves, that’s for sure.”

As grim as the exercise might be, Republicans across Washington are trying to game out the politics of the president’s illness. “I don’t know exactly how this plays,” Graham said. “I’m hoping the president recovers fully and quickly.” He noted that several world leaders have recovered from coronavirus without major interruptions and that Woodrow Wilson caught the Spanish Flu (though it was after his reelection).

The thinking among Republicans about the potential scenarios they might face over the next few weeks range from this could actually help Trump to we are on the cusp of party-wide catastrophe.

Graham, always an optimist, is in the former camp.