Study and survey results show that Democrats exaggerated the threat of COVID-19. This led them to support draconian measures that stripped the populous of their fundamental rights and freedoms.

CLAIM: Democrats didn’t exaggerate the threat of COVID-19.

REALITY: This is false. Survey results and studies show that Democrats did overestimate and exaggerate the threat of COVID-19.

The media, government institutions, and Democrat politicians pushed many falsehoods about COVID-19, spreading fear to many people in the process.

According to a study by Just-published research, 91% of the U.S. media coverage was negative, compared to 54% of non-U.S. media coverage. The mainstream media in the U.S. promoted fear.

This caused many Democrats to exaggerate the dangers of COVID-19.

Results from a 2020 Franklin Templeton-Gallup Economics survey showed that almost half of Democrats (41%) believed that 50% of those infected with COVID-19 had to be hospitalized. The actual rate of hospitalization was between 1 and 5%.

According to the Brookings Institute, “Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to overestimate this harm. Forty-one percent of Democrats and 28% of Republicans answered that half or more of those infected by COVID-19 need to be hospitalized. Republicans were also far more likely to get the correct answer, with 26% correctly identifying the risk compared to just 10% of Democrats.”

The survey also showed that Democrats were more likely to overestimate the risk of death for young people, as well as other age groups. Republicans, on the other hand, answered every question closer to the actual risk by age group.

According to Brookings Institute, “Democrats were further off than Republicans and more likely to overstate the risks to young people, even after accounting for age, race, gender, geographic, and educational differences.”

Democrats having an exaggerated view of COVID-19 heavily correlates with their trust in the mainstream media. Democrats are significantly the most likely to trust the mainstream media. According to a Gallup poll, conducted in September 2021, “36% in the U.S. have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in mass media. 68% of Democrats, 31% of independents, and 11% of Republicans trust the media.”

Democrats constant negative view of the pandemic had a strong negative impact on their mental health. Democrats were more likely to have mental health issues related to the pandemic than Republicans.

A 2022 study titled “Distressed Democrats and relaxed Republicans? Partisanship and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic”, by Sean Bock and Landon Schnabel, showed that Democrats had worse mental health problems over the pandemic. “Results demonstrate a clear partisan distress gap, with Democrats consistently reporting worse mental health than Republicans…… Democrats experienced a substantially greater increase in distress in response to the pandemic than Republicans.”

The constant negative coverage by the mainstream media and the misinformation pushed by the left has led a considerable amount of both Republicans and independents to distrust the media and the CDC.

According to a Gallup poll, conducted in August 2021, 41% of Americans don’t believe the “CDC has communicated a clear plan of action in response to the COVID-19 situation,” while only 32% believe it has.

Another survey by NBC, conducted in January 2022, showed that only 44% trust what the CDC has communicated about the virus, compared to 43% who don’t trust the CDC. 69% of Democrats said they trusted the CDC, while only 22% of Republicans did.

Democrats are more likely to trust the mainstream media and the CDC. Despite this trust, they seemed to be the most misinformed about the threat of the virus; while Republicans were significantly more likely to accurately identify the seriousness of the virus.

The perceived threat by Democrats convinced them to adopt policies that either didn’t work or did more harm than good. Policies like mask mandates, strict lockdowns, and social distancing didn’t have any statistically significant benefits. This is evident when you compare states that implemented those policies with states that didn’t. Read my article “Top 5 COVID-19 Myths” for more information about how mask mandates, strict lockdowns, and social distancing didn’t work.

Not only were those measures ineffective, but some of the measures lead or will lead to horrible outcomes. For example, according to a study by authors at Duke University, Harvard Medical School, and the Johns Hopkins University business school, over the next couple of decades in the U.S., as a result of the negative economic effects of the pandemic, 1.37 million more people will die due to the financial impact of the lockdowns.

Because Democrats significantly overestimated the hospitalization rate and the death rate of the virus, implemented harmful policies that didn’t work, and had worse mental health problems, it’s apparent that Democrats exaggerated the threat of COVID-19.

Disclaimer: This article is intended to show that Democrats overestimated the dangers of COVID-19, it’s not intended to downplay the actual threat of the virus.

SOURCES

Bock S, Schnabel L (2022) Distressed Democrats and relaxed Republicans? Partisanship and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS ONE 17(4): e0266562. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0266562

Rothwell, J., & Desai, S. (2020, December 22). How misinformation is distorting COVID policies and behaviors. Brookings Institute. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.brookings.edu/research/how-misinformation-is-distorting-covid-policies-and-behaviors/%3famp

Landen, X. (2022, January 23). Only 44 percent of Americans Trust what the CDC has said about COVID: Poll. Newsweek. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/only-44-percent-americans-trust-what-cdc-has-said-about-covid-poll-1671988%3famp=1

Brenan, M. (2021, October 7). Americans’ Trust in Media Dips to second lowest on record. Gallup. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/355526/americans-trust-media-dips-second-lowest-record.aspx

Jones, J. M. (2021, September 7). Americans’ ratings of CDC Communication Turn Negative. Gallup. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/354566/americans-ratings-cdc-communication-turn-negative.aspx

Colvin, G. (2021, January 6). The covid recession may kill more Americans than the covid virus will. Fortune . Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/fortune.com/2021/01/06/covid-pandemic-recession-unemployment-mortality-rate-increase/amp/