GOP Focused On Rhetoric, Not Reality, in Coronavirus Response
Right-wing media and extremist GOP candidates refuse to reckon with the results of their partisan response to wearing masks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 25, 2020
SEATTLE — With the CDC and Washington state public health officials in agreement that universal mask-wearing is both an essential tool in preventing further spread of the deadly virus — a record number of new cases of which were identified today — the GOP has united around opposition to this common sense public health precaution.
Even worse, this nonsensical opposition to something so easy and effective in preventing the spread of coronavirus reveals an ugly truth about the GOP’s failure on the pandemic response, both nationally and here in Washington state: the communities of color worst hit by this pandemic are precisely the voters that Trump and his GOP sycophants across the country have tried to keep from the polls. Make no mistake: the behavior modeled by the president and Republican candidates matters in getting all Americans to follow the CDC’s guidelines.
Instead of engaging with any of these issues, however, Jason Rantz and Trump’s senior legal advisor for his reelection campaign spent time tone-policing on Twitter. Tina Podlodowski, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party, issued this statement in response:
“I have no patience for right-wing ideologues who resort to pearl-clutching and faux outrage at someone’s choice of words when the choice of priorities by the Republican politicians they cape for while masquerading as journalists reveals that they are not interested in saving American lives or keeping people safe. By plainly looking at public health data and their actions in failing to respond to this pandemic, it’s clear President Trump and his GOP allies do not value the safety of all Americans equally.”
