Thankfully, the Covid-19 pandemic is mostly in the rearview mirror. We have moved on from the nightmare that has taken more than 1.1 million American lives.  We are back at work and school.  We’re filling our stadiums and concert venues.  And we’re driving, flying, and cruising everywhere. 

Looking back is painful, but it’s important to learn from our mistakes. In particular, we need to consider of consequences of the pandemic getting caught up in partisan politics. Why did we make Covid-19 such a highly partisan and divisive brawl instead of treating it as an existential threat?  And what were the consequences of taking such a partisan approach?

I did some research and want to share six takeaways.

1. America’s Covid-19 response immediately got caught up in partisan politics.

Our response to Covid-19 got caught up in partisan politics as soon as the virus reached our shores.  Most of us will remember Trump and the Republicans downplaying the threat in early 2020. They resisted the shutdown of the economy and the schools.  They condemned mandatory mask mandates.  On the other hand, Democrat-controlled states, counties, and cities took action. Mask mandates and travel restrictions were imposed.  Businesses were required to close or restructure their operations.  Schools and colleges were forced to switch to remote instruction.  And later, Democrats imposed widespread vaccination requirements. 

By the summer of 2020, partisanship was in full swing. Trump and the Republicans blamed Democrats for ruining the economy, abrogating individual freedoms, and fomenting a massive learning loss. Democrats blamed Trump and the Republicans for skyrocketing deaths caused by faulty and insufficient public health responses. Americans became divided on the Covid-19 response. Millions took to the streets in protest. And tens of millions more refused to wear masks, avoid crowds, or conform to other Covid-19 health protocols.

2. Republicans and Democrats differed significantly in terms of mask wearing and vaccination.

There are several studies that confirm Republicans were much less likely to wear masks than Democrats.  A Kaiser Family Foundation study published in December 2020 revealed that 87% of Democrats wore a mask every time they left the house. Only 55% of Republicans reported the same behavior. 

In terms of vaccination, a March 2023 report by Morning Consult revealed that much higher percentages of Democrats were vaccinated (86% vs 62%). Also, Republicans were much more likely to be unwilling to get vaccinated (32% vs 9%).

3. Death rates for Republicans and Republican-controlled states were significantly greater than death rates for Democrats and Democrat-controlled states. The death rate for the United States was among the highest in the world.

“We estimate substantially higher excess death rates for registered Republicans when compared to registered Democrats, with almost all of the difference concentrated in the period after vaccines were widely available in our study states.”

National Bureau of Economic Research, September 2022 working paper

A February 2023 study by The Covid States Project found that states without mask mandates had 30% higher death rates than states with mandates.  Also, mask mandates increased the percentage of those wearing masks from 65.7% to 75.1%. 

In addition, my own research shows that states governed by Republicans had significantly higher death rates than states governed by Democrats. I identified states where one political party controlled both the legislature and the governorship (dubbed a “trifecta”).  Then I went to the CDC Data Tracker and identified each state’s death rate per 100,000 during the period of March 2020 to March 2022.  The table below depicts the death rates for Republican and Democrat states.  As a rule, Republican states had significantly higher death rates that Democrat states.  Most Republican states had death rates in excess of the national average (295 deaths per 100,000). Meanwhile, most Democrat states had death rates less than the national average. 

STATES WITH REPUBLICAN TRIFECTAS/COVID DEATH RATE* PER 100,000 (USA AVERAGE: 295)	STATES WITH DEMOCRAT TRIFECTAS/COVID DEATH RATE* PER 100,000 (USA AVERAGE 295)
Alabama                                   391	California                                 239
Arkansas                                  359	Colorado                                  218
Florida                                       309	Connecticut                           295
Georgia                                     294	Delaware                                 287
Idaho                                          253	Hawaii                                        129
Indiana                                      330	Illinois                                        279
Iowa                                           298	Maine                                         175
Mississippi                              433	Maryland                                  247
Missouri                                   315	Massachusetts                     255
Montana                                  306	Michigan                                  318
Nebraska                                 245	Minnesota                               224
New Hampshire                   186	New Jersey                             339
North Dakota                        296	New Mexico                           377
Ohio                                           363	New York                                 357
Oklahoma                               419	Oregon                                      166
South Carolina                     352	Rhode Island                          319
South Dakota                        317	Washington                            153
Tennessee                              346
Texas                                         311
Utah                                            142
West Virginia                         388
Wyoming                                 318

Finally, the United States has one of the highest Covid-19 death rates in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center (see below):

The New York Times has reported that the US has far higher death rates than other wealthy countries.

4. It was inevitable that our response to Covid-19 would get caught up in partisan politics.

Covid-19 caught us flatfooted. We didn’t know how fast it would spread, how lethal it would be, and how long it might last. Every country in the world—as well as every state, county, and city in America—was forced to make immediate determinations.  We had to make hard decisions about how to best protect the public and our way of life. These decisions impinged on the liberties and freedoms of individuals as well the operations of businesses and the public sector.  On a daily basis, we had to make educated guesses about the best course of action given what knew.  There were bound to be mistakes and changes in direction as we battled this largely unknown crisis.  Controversial decisions were inevitable. It’s entirely reasonable that there were strong and legitimate differences of opinion.  

And there was controversy all around the world.  A Pew Research Center paper documents that partisan differences abounded in the responses of many countries. Nineteen of the world’s advanced economies were studied.  When citizens supported the current government of their country, they tended to support its Covid-19 response.  And when they opposed the ruling party, they tended to be critical of the response.  Majorities of most of the countries reported that Covid-19 left them more divided than before the outbreak. And majorities in most countries said their country failed to handle the outbreak in ways that show the weaknesses of their political system. 

Importantly, the United States was found to be, “one of the most divided countries when it comes to attitudes about the coronavirus outbreak.”

The US news media was another contributing factor to America’s hyper-partisan response.  A study from the National Institutes of Health found newspaper coverage to be highly politicized. It also found both newspaper coverage and network (TV) coverage to be highly polarized.  The study concludes that these high levels of politicization and polarization may have contributed to the polarized Covid-19 attitudes.

There is also evidence that low media literacy and the conservative media contributed to poor compliance with Covid-19 health behaviors. Such behaviors include social distancing, wearing a mask, hand washing, and avoiding large crowds.  A study reported in the National Institutes of Health found that conservative media use was negatively associated with following these protective behaviors.  Also, higher degrees of media literacy were associated with following the protective behaviors. 

The fact the the pandemic exploded during a presidential election year is another reason our response got caught up in partisan politics. As Covid raged during April through October of 2020, this coincided with the heart of the campaign season for the 2020 elections. It was opportune and all too tempting for candidates and political parties to condemn the other side for overreach and irresponsible behaviors. 

Finally, there is extensive literature on the role President Trump and his administration played in politicizing and polarizing the response to Covid-19. If you want to dig deeper, here’s a book and a lengthy article.

5. The price of hyper-partisan politics was more Covid-19 deaths.

Simply put, a country that is so divided and angry due to hyper-partisan politics had little chance of successfully navigating the Covid-19 pandemic. Our focus was diverted from fighting an existential threat. Instead we sought to vindicate our Covid stances and consolidate political gains. It was bound to happen. You have to go back over 20 years—the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001—to find a time when the country actually united to combat a common enemy.

Right out of the gate, the Covid-19 response became dominated by partisan politics.  Republicans and Democrats chose sides as to whether masks were effective or whether citizens should be forced to wear them. They chose sides over closing down schools, colleges, restaurants, and other businesses. They chose sides over social distancing and travel restrictions.  They chose sides over whether people should be forced to take vaccines.  They attacked each other for ruining the economy or prioritizing the economy over preventing deaths.  In the process they often made their cases using spurious information or no information at all. Just about every one of us in America got caught up in the fray.   

In the aftermath we have to live with the fact that America had one of the world’s highest death rates from Covid-19.  We have to live with the fact that many Americans refused to wear masks, social distance, or take vaccines because they relied upon information that was untrue or misleading.  We have to live with the fact that many states, counties, and cities opened up their businesses, schools, stadiums, and other public spaces when it was still risky to do so.  Too many American died because of our hyper-partisan politics. And the tragedy is bound to repeat with the next pandemic.

6. Achieving a better outcome for future pandemics requires us to break free of hyper-partisan politics.

It is up to us, the people, to reject hyper-partisan politics.  We need to tell our elected officials, the political parties, and the right and left-leaning media that we are fed up with the politics of blame, misinformation, and winning at all costs.  Instead, we want our elected officials to concentrate on solving problems by finding middle ground through respectful dialogue and compromise.  We shouldn’t vote for them if they insist on maintaining their hyper-partisan behaviors.  In addition, as citizens, we need to be wary of being manipulated by false or one-sided information; and we need to call it out when we see it. 

A pandemic presents very difficult challenges when it comes to finding middle ground and compromise.  Events are unfolding rapidly, much is unknown, and the timeframe to act is often short.  Hard decisions must be made, balancing the protection of the public against maintaining the economy as and preserving the rights and freedoms of individuals.  The decisions are not only tough, but also have far-reaching consequences.  Under these circumstances it is especially important to engage in respectful dialogue and search for consensus as to common ground solutions.  Even if one side has the power to act unilaterally, it should not do so until it has exhausted efforts to find consensus.