Republicans Are Willing to Sacrifice the Lives of Their Own Constituents to Score Political Wins
Over the past two years, Republicans have abandoned their duty to serve the people of the country, instead pushing back against measures that would slow the spread of COVID-19 and help the country and the economy continue to move towards normal. By voting against vaccine distribution, promoting conspiracy theories and treatments that don’t work, and now, by holding up funding for vital resources to combat against COVID-19, Republicans have prolonged the pandemic, leading to needless suffering.
And they’re hurting the very people that vote for them. A recent study showed how one Pennsylvania county was hit harder than almost any other in the United States. Multiple factors, including an older population and vaccine hesitancy, led to a higher death toll in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. The county overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in 2020, and one official believed that partisanship led to COVID skepticism and bled into vaccine skepticism.
This study comes on the heels of an ABC News analysis released this week showing that the cumulative death rates in red states were 30% higher than in blue. The ten states with the highest vaccination rates all voted for President Biden in 2020, and the ten states with the lowest voted for Trump. And a Pew Research report released in early March demonstrated how the highest overall death toll is now in the most Republican-leaning part of the country.
These are only studies from the past few weeks. Older studies and analyses all draw similar conclusions.
The partisan posturing by Republicans has led to a divide between red and blue America when it comes to outcomes from COVID-19. The data is clear: people in Republican areas are getting sick and dying more than people in Democratic areas. Because Republicans are focused on their own political wins and not saving people, their constituents are suffering.
Republicans must immediately join with Democrats to approve additional funding for continuing our fight against the pandemic and abandon their political theater. They know just as well as Democrats what it will take to move towards normalcy. The games have gone on long enough.
But so far, Republicans are still determined to make this pandemic last as long as possible. Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson is continuing his political theater by continuing to attack Dr. Anthony Fauci and misleading on natural immunity. Former Vice President Mike Pence just released an agenda for the Republican party where he attacks the CDC and goes against the suggestions of doctors and scientists.
And, unfortunately in what appears to not be an April Fools joke, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis posted a music video of a song bragging about Florida’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, namechecking Dr. Fauci. It’s just the level of maturity that we’ve come to expect from Florida’s governor, even as people in Florida still fight the pandemic while processing the grief and trauma of the past two years.