MSNBC Guest: Fewer Dems Will Die From Coronavirus Because They’re Smarter Than Trump Supporters

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin predicted Sunday on MSNBC that fewer Democrats will die from coronavirus infection because, unlike Trump supporters, they understand reality.

During an appearance on “AM Joy,” Rubin expressed regret that Republicans have allegedly been mislead by their party and Fox News into underestimating the threat posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is a particular cruelty, irony that it is their core viewers, the Republican older viewers, who are the most at risk,” she said.

Rubin, a former Republican turned outspoken “Never Trump” commentator, went on to praise the Democratic Party for its response to the spreading coronavirus.

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“And when you think about it, which party immediately canceled all of their rallies? Which party immediately started having their political figures really portray and use their lives as an example? It was the Democrats,” she told host Joy Reid.

“So, they’re going to be, I hate to put it in there terms, there are going to be less Democrat deaths because of there being less mass gatherings. There will be less opportunities for people to congregate and share this horrible disease. So, it is really a very short-sided strategy.”

Apparently in full agreement with her guest, Reid mentioned a Washington Post analysis that noted older people, who are at greater risk from the coronavirus, are also more concerned about it, according to polls. But that trend appears to be counterbalanced by a partisanship, with Republicans less worried about the outbreak than are Democrats.

Jennifer Rubin gives “AM Joy” reason for hope

Rubin expressed hope that President Donald Trump and his allies were belatedly starting to acknowledge the threat posed by the coronavirus. But she said they were reversing themselves without ever acknowledging their previous skepticism.

“I think now the name of the game is how do they get back on planet earth. And part of the way that I think that they are doing it is down the memory hole. [Trump] jumped right on this right away because of all this planning that we’re doing so well, which is head-spinning for the rest of us who watched him for weeks say this is a hoax. But this is how they do it at Fox News,” she said.

“And so they will contort themselves to get in line and get in sync. And, you know, we’re always saying but, but, but, pointing to the past. And they don’t. They simply move with the flow. Every day is a new day. Every day is a new storyline, and they will stick with it.

Rubin suggested that if the death toll climbs high enough in the United States, Trump’s supposed mind control over his credulous supporters could finally be broken.

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“I think the problem will be what happens unfortunately if we start to follow that Italian model where we have mass casualties, and our lives are not disrupted for a week or two, but we’re talking months,” she said. “And that is going to be some serious stuff. And I don’t know if their brainwashing is so strong as to carry on and make excuses for Trump during that. But this will be some serious stuff.”

Trump versus the coronavirus and the Democrats

Rubin has joined Democrats and liberal commentators in finding fault with nearly every aspect of Trump’s response to the coronavirus — sometimes as too aggressive and other times as too passive.

Like her comrades in the #Resistance, Rubin has characterized Trump’s imposition of travel restrictions on certain countries as unnecessary and xenophobic. But, at the same time, she has given voice to claims that Trump cares more about his reelection than he does about saving American lives.

Meanwhile, Trump on Friday took a series of measures to combat COVID-19. He declared a national emergency, which allowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to tap into billions of dollars and mobilize personnel more quickly to help state and local agencies and leaders respond.

Trump also declared a “National Day of Prayer” over the coronavirus and announced he would be waiving interest on “all student loans held by federal government agencies” until further notice. A number of colleges across the country have closed their campuses amid the outbreak.

As of Sunday, more than 3,000 cases of coronavirus infection had been reported in the United States, along with 62 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University database.

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Pluralist

Andrew Tobin is Pluralist’s Editor-in-chief.

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