The lesson of Donald Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis is not that he deserved it — it is that you cannot ignore reality forever. The basic laws — of science, of medicine, of the economy, of humanity — always eventually express their will, whether we like it or not.

This, of course, is a truism for all of us who live ordinary lives out here in the actual, real world — but it is a revelation for a Republican Party whose entire political identity is defined by scoffing at and mocking what GOP Karl Rove infamously called “the reality-based community.” Indeed, for decades, Republican leaders have operated as if you are a fool to think reality even matters — because in their view, nothing matters and new realities can just be manufactured.

Trump is the avatar of that attitude — he has spent the last seven months trying to defy the basic axioms of biology: during the pandemic, he downplayed the disease, refused to wear a mask, insisted on holding crowded campaign rallies, and demanded the economy open back up as the virus spread. He ignored science, but ultimately science caught up with his reckless behavior — and he became one of the millions who have been infected.