With a story as sensitive as the president’s health, journalistic commentators had to tread carefully in recent days — especially when packing the power of a single editorial image. As events unfolded after Trump’s covid-19 diagnosis, artists pivoted.

“This story was harder to address than some because of its developing nature,” says Clay Bennett, political cartoonist at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “The president’s diagnosis was certainly the only thing on the drawing board last Friday, but the trick was trying to come up with a cartoon for Saturday that wouldn’t be overtaken by events.”

With Trump being transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday evening, Bennett knew he needed a broad idea. He settled on “how the diagnosis was not all that surprising considering the president’s resistance to implementing preventative measures.” “Karma,” he says, “was my theme.”

For a follow-up cartoon this week, Bennett considered the maelstrom of misinformation and doubt.

“The public speculation ran wild. Some people believed that the president was faking the whole thing for political purposes, while others were just as convinced that he was downplaying the severity of the illness,” the Pulitzer-winning cartoonist says. “The disbelief on either extreme seemed to be a natural reaction to the most dishonest administration in recent history.”

Once Bennett decided to comment on Trump’s credibility, he says, “the image seemed to draw itself.”

Pat Bagley of the Salt Lake Tribune also chose to focus on what he viewed as prevarication.

“It’s well-established that Trump lies about everything, but he also manages to turn those around him into liars as well,” Bagley says from Salt Lake City, where this week’s vice-presidential debate will be held. “I knew the daily medical briefings were going to be about as useful as propaganda out of Pyongyang, so I didn’t bother tuning in.”

Bagley knew that satirizing someone who has the deadly virus could be fraught. “But Trump made that easy by continuing to lie, insult and obfuscate,” he says. “Worse, his macho swagger about ‘beating’ covid has only ensured people will continue to ignore health warnings and the virus will continue to spread.”

Meanwhile, Adam Zyglis of the Buffalo News chose to spotlight how Trump’s administration and staff came to have so many positive tests for covid-19 the past week.

“It’s kind of the October non-surprise, in that it’s big news affecting the campaign,” Zyglis says, “but seemed to be inevitable based on Trump’s cavalier attitude toward the virus.”

Zyglis highlighted the West Wing outbreak by rendering a Trump as a super-pollinator, which he notes evokes thoughts of the infamous “murder hornets” — the Asian giant hornets that this past spring sparked hyperventilating fears of spreading throughout the United States.

"Masks and social distancing do work, and Trump’s bad example has no doubt contributed to the spread of covid around the county,” Zyglis says. “If Trump can’t keep the White House safe, how can he keep the country safe?”

Here is how some other cartoonists are commenting on the White House outbreak and coronavirus policies:

Jack Ohman (Sacramento Bee):

Dave Whamond (Cagle Cartoons):

Lisa Benson (WPWG):

Steve Sack (Minneapolis Star Tribune):

Ann Telnaes (The Washington Post):

Rick McKee (Cagle Cartoons):

Jimmy Margulies (Cagle Cartoons):