The brief, shining moment of national unity after 9/11 – Roll Call

Instead, Trump treated the grave threat to public health as if it were a banker with the temerity to inquire about loan repayment. The hyperbole, the lies and the consistent disdain for science were all designed to keep the Trumpian hustle going through the election. 

But let’s be honest. Many Democrats in 2020 also radiated a smug sense of moral disapproval as they watched Floridians cavorting on the beaches during the first wave of the pandemic. At the time, scientists were still unduly worried about outdoor transmission. 

Trump’s sins as the pandemic raged were infinitely more serious. But liberals, too, were sometimes guilty of undermining national unity.

By the time Joe Biden took office, America was a house divided. 

Democrats, with few exceptions, were mask-wearers eager to be vaccinated. In contrast, the Trumpian wing of the Republican Party practiced a level of COVID-19 denial that often seemed straight out of the 14th century.