The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 750 thousand Americans, shuttered countless businesses, and completely upended daily life in the United States for the better part of two years.
It's indisputable that the decisions of former President Donald Trump, whose administration oversaw the bulk of federal pandemic response throughout 2020, played a major role in how we got here.
Trump repeatedly mocked the usage of masks, which have proven to slow the spread of the virus. He often undermined and attacked his own health officials. He held packed and maskless rallies throughout the 2020 campaign, all while mocking then-candidate Biden's pandemic-conscious minimized gatherings.
Trump's own former Coronavirus Response Director, Dr. Deborah Birx, estimated earlier this month that up to 40 percent fewer lives would have been lost if the administration had fully supported mask mandates, reduced indoor dining, and limited gatherings—all of which Trump opposed. What's more, a Stanford study found that Trump's campaign rallies led to 30 thousand COVID-19 cases.
Even after Trump's presidency, conservative lawmakers and media personalities have continued to dismiss the severity of the virus, sow skepticism of lifesaving vaccines, and promote unhinged conspiracy theories about the origins of emerging variants.
Nevertheless, the Republican Party's official Twitter account says Joe Biden "failed" at shutting down the virus.
Joe Biden promised he would shut down the coronavirus.
He failed.
— GOP (@GOP) November 29, 2021
Since the start of his presidency, Biden has introduced vaccine or testing mandates across a variety of sectors, imposed mask mandates for federal buildings, brokered landmark pandemic relief administration, and mobilized to get vaccines administered to as many Americans as possible—all of which went opposed by the bulk of prominent conservatives.
Many of Biden's critics deem his pandemic policies a failure, citing the fact that more COVID deaths have occurred under his administration than Trump's. Not only is that claim stripped of crucial context. What's more, data shows that as recently as last month, counties where Trump won more than 60 percent of the 2020 vote saw three times the COVID deaths of counties that voted for Biden by a similar margin.
Social media users soon responded to the GOP's tweet, pointing out the party's own culpability.
Your party has lead the charge on refusing to wear masks or get vaccinated. If you’re looking for failure, the call is coming from inside the house. https://t.co/ltS5plTnws
— VoteVets (@votevets) November 29, 2021
Remember when everyone was asking, "why are Republican governors allowing COVID-19 to spread?" This tweet is why. They purposely exacerbated the problem so they could then blame Joe Biden. Remember, just a few months ago; they declared the pandemic was over. https://t.co/tIAP4L44TJ
— Christopher Bouzy (@cbouzy) November 30, 2021
Imagine being a political party that is actively cheering the pandemic and loss of lives due to THEIR viral spreading of disinformation.
RT if you'll NEVER vote Republican. https://t.co/7tzp0HZmCf
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) November 30, 2021
Like I said: Republicans hamper Biden’s attempts to fight the pandemic and then hammer him for its persistence.
This is akin to an arsonist blaming the fire department for not doing a better job of fighting fires.
In @PostOpinions: https://t.co/QvtgD0stQL https://t.co/hte7jZoCwU
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) November 29, 2021
Republicans refuse the vaccines, the masks, the mandates, and they also complain that Biden has failed to end Covid. https://t.co/KxFd8tvB2o
— Young Daddy (@Toure) November 29, 2021
Translation:
"Joe Biden promised he would shut down the coronavirus.
"We vowed to make sure that didn't happen, by convincing our own followers to harm themselves.
"We succeeded." https://t.co/6LOkN3xcpB
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) November 29, 2021
The only people opposing every effort to contain COVID in the US are celebrating the fact that COVID isn’t contained in the US.
They’re so desperate to perpetuate this talking point that they’re sacrificing their own supporters for it. https://t.co/8XrQe8jn24
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) November 29, 2021
They also reminded people of Trump's failed promises to shut down the virus.
Trump said it would “disappear” by Easter 2020…. https://t.co/5tEy3fzFJ2
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) November 29, 2021
Trump said he "alone could fix it." You agreed.
Liars. https://t.co/0AG5YYYeSA
— Larry Middleton - Unapologetically Black (@l78lancer) November 29, 2021
In October 2020, Trump promised COVID would just go away, "like a miracle". https://t.co/OIrqhx9Vx1
— Mark Elliott (@markmobility) November 30, 2021
At least one sitting Republican lawmaker—Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson of Arizona—has already dismissed the looming omicron variant as a Democratic party invention to sway the 2022 midterms.
