I just read an article on Slate which points out—with impressive statistics and surveys—that Republicans are far less likely than Democrats to take the coronavirus threat seriously. They are less likely to avoid public places, less likely to do such things as wash their hands frequently, and less likely to sign up for vaccination if it were to become available. After the studies corrected for urban/rural bias, the proportions stayed the same. Same story with other extrinsic factors: after all the correction, something like 40% of Republicans think coronavirus is a problem, compared with 60% or more of Democrats.
People whose major news source was Fox News tended to disbelieve in the coronavirus threat, but even their numbers weren't quite as extreme as the numbers for the Republican Party. The most vivid statistical split was Trump supporters versus the rest of the country. And that makes sense. Trump supporters tend to believe that he's got a lock on all truth, and he's been very dismissive of the threat, a fountain of disinformation.
This feels like a Darwin Awards moment. Trump supporters, who tend to be much older than the population in general, do not believe in the threat posed by a disease that targets older people. Trump supporters were never the majority of the country (topping out somewhere near 17%) and this disease will disproportionately kill them off. I don't think this is a moment to sit on the sidelines with an evil grin and say "Aha!" but it does illustrate the point that sooner or later, all of us must deal with real facts, not with fantasy or conspiracy theory or the distortions of a leader who thinks he can spin his way out of anything in the news.
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