//Trumpism, not polarization, drives America’s disastrous coronavirus politics

Trumpism, not polarization, drives America’s disastrous coronavirus politics

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (C) wears a face mask as President Donald Trump makes remarks during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on May 13, 2020. | Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images

“This outcome is a policy choice. The unnecessary lives lost. The long-term effects we don’t even know about yet on our vital organs. It’s all a policy choice.”

On June 25, the Pew Research Center published a startling poll. The difference between Democratic and Republican attitudes on Covid-19 was growing. Thirty-seven percent of Democrats, but 72 percent of Republicans, said they’d feel comfortable getting a haircut. Twenty-eight percent of Democrats, but 65 percent of Republicans, were willing to eat in a restaurant. Eight percent of Democrats, but 31 percent of Republicans, would attend a crowded party. All in all, the Pew poll found that partisanship was the single biggest driver