Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei holds conservative and right-wing media responsible for how certain red states have responded to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Congratulations, Rush Limbaugh. You are the first person in history to rule as the unofficial governor of multiple U.S. states. Stacey Abrams must be so jealous.
VandeHei’s remarks came Thursday amid a broader discussion ripping into Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who announced recently that he just learned that asymptomatic victims of the virus are as contagious as those who are obviously ill, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who only recently issued a “stay-at-home” order for the Sunshine State.
“What you’re seeing here, and this is a bigger problem for society, is information inequality,” VandeHei said during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “Like, why did DeSantis do what he did? Why did Georgia wait so long?”
He adds, “It’s because they were listening to President Trump up until the last five or six days. They were watching Fox News, they were listening to Rush Limbaugh, and they were following conservatives on Twitter or social media. All of whom were downplaying this.”
First, VandeHei has no idea who Kemp and DeSantis personally follow and listen to on social media. Second, I can assure you “conservatives on Twitter” were not “all” downplaying the pandemic.
“The information was there. But in the information bubble, they were basically getting a lot of sort of noise and news pollution, and it has huge consequences,” VandeHei concluded.
What a monumentally stupid and unhelpful analysis. Misleading, too.
VandeHei is not wrong to say some red state governors have acted too slowly, especially given their Johnny-come-lately actions come long, long after public health officials warned about the dangers of the disease. But if we are going to excoriate elected officials for dragging their feet despite all the warnings and readily available information, then who does VandeHei blame for New York City’s disastrous response to the virus? Vox?
Recall that officials in New York City, which has suffered the most casualties so far, urged residents in February and March to attend large gatherings and take public transportation even after the White House issued an order in January blocking travel to and from China.
“There is no reason not to take the subway, not to take the bus, not to go out to your favorite restaurant, and certainly not to miss the parade next Sunday.” New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot said on Feb. 2.
Later, on Feb. 7, she said, “We’re telling New Yorkers, go about your lives, take the subway, go out, enjoy life.”
This was after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already issued a “level 3” travel advisory against China, urging travelers to avoid all nonessential travel to Wuhan, where the pandemic originated. Barbot’s February remarks also came after the CDC had already recommended that people stay at least 6 feet apart, warning that coronaviruses spread “person-to-person via respiratory droplets among close contacts.”
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio himself said on Feb. 10, “If you’re under 50, and you’re healthy, which is most [New Yorkers], there’s very little threat here. This disease, even if you were to get it, basically acts like a common cold or flu. And transmission is not that easy.”
On March 3, he said, “I’m encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives [and] get out on the town despite Coronavirus.”
By March 8, 105,586 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed worldwide, and the death toll in Italy, which has been hit particularly hard by the disease, surpassed 366.
Three days later, on March 11, de Blasio said at a press conference that the New York City government wasn’t “telling people to not avoid restaurants, not avoid normal things that people do.” He added, “If you’re not sick, you should be going about your life.”
So, who do we blame for what has happened in New York City, where 1,374 are already dead?
“Information inequality”?
Maybe — just maybe! — bad leaders are bad leaders, and it is no more difficult than that. Maybe it does not have to be a large-scale conspiracy alleging anonymous “conservatives on Twitter” dictate how certain states respond to crises.
I know it is the go-to for some to blame the apparently all-powerful and monolithic “right-wing” for all bad things, but not now, guys. There is a pandemic out there.
