COVID restrictions were opposed by the right on economic-withdrawal grounds, not health ones.
Evidence
Part of Trump’s resistance to the recommendations of experts, and specifically shutting down businesses and mandating shelter-in-place orders, involved the potential consequences for the economy. On multiple occasions, Trump repeated the phrase, “The cure cannot be worse than the disease,” stressing that it would ultimately be more damaging to keep the economy closed than to impose more restrictions in the hope of stopping the spread of the virus. At a White House press briefing in March 2020, Trump said decisions on how to handle the pandemic couldn’t be left to medical experts: “If it were up to doctors, they may say, ‘Let’s shut down the entire world.’ You know, we can’t do that.” Right-wing pundits made similar statements on air or over social media. Fox News host Laura Ingraham said, “Doctors provide medical treatment and cures—they should not be the determinative voices in policy making.” Similarly, Charlie Kirk resented that, “The question we’re not allowed to ask … is should the number of people who get sick be the only variable we factor into our ethical calculation? It’s also impossible to dispute that the steps we are taking are destroying the American economy.” And overtly Christian nationalist pastor Lance Wallnau went even further to argue tanking the economy was the Democrats’ whole ballgame: “The virus will touch just a fraction of the population,” he explained, “The Left wants the economy distressed because the crisis improves their chances of taking office.” — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 146
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: The right opposed Covid programs for being public, not just for being Covid — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror…, 600; Reformers criticized the economy of power, not its cruelty. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 133; Christian right leaders framed pandemic restrictions as unconstitutional fear-based tyranny. — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 147 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Christian right leaders framed pandemic restrictions as unconstitutional fear-based tyranny.
#exemplifies(0.90) — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 147 - The right opposed Covid programs for being public, not just for being Covid
#expands(0.85) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 600 - The pandemic emergency powers were framed as a shock-doctrine rights grab by the right
#exemplifies(0.82) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 108 - Reformers criticized the economy of power, not its cruelty.
#expands(0.75) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 133