The Midwestern States Where Covid Is the Worst Will Probably Go to Trump
Republicans followed Trump’s lead on the virus, and it's working
North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Montana, and Iowa. Those aren’t just states on the electoral map. They’re the states where Covid-19 counts are the highest in the nation, and they are staying the highest.
With the exception of Wisconsin, which may not even be called until tomorrow, all of these states are red states. Trump and his surrogates have been campaigning heavily in Wisconsin and Iowa. And a recent Stanford study links at least 30,000 Covid-19 cases to Trump rallies.
It’s impossible to know what the impact of a pandemic will have on an election. But it seems that Republican supporters followed Trump’s lead on the virus — minimize, mock, get it, and downplay it.
Republicans in Iowa have been having large in-person gatherings with few masks, and social distancing more of a fancy phrase people say rather than a reality. Meanwhile, Democrats have been having smaller, more modest events, with masks and social distancing.
While we will be analyzing the impact of the virus on the election for years to come, it does offer us this really disturbing insight into the country: Most Americans would rather get the virus than disrupt the status quo.
