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How a Pandemic Malaise Is Shaping American Politics
Public confidence in institutions — the presidency, public schools, the criminal justice system, the news media, Congress — slumped in surveys in the aftermath of the pandemic and has yet to recover. The pandemic hardened voter distrust in government, a sentiment Mr. Trump and his allies are using to their advantage. Fears of political violence, even civil war, are at record highs, and rankings of the nation’s happiness at record lows. And views of the nation’s economy and confidence in the future remain bleak, even as the country has defied expectations of a recession.
“The pandemic pulled the rug from people — you were never quite as secure as you were,” Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, a Democrat, said in an interview. “We’re starting to get our grounding back. But I think it’s just hard for people to feel good again.”
High rates of office vacancies have crippled urban downtowns, adding to the sense that the country has yet to recover fully. Depression and anxiety rates remain stubbornly high, particularly among young adults. Students remain behind in math and reading, part of the continued fallout from school closures. And even positive news has been met with skepticism: F.B.I. data released this month confirmed that crime declined significantly in 2023, though polling conducted at the end of last year has shown that voters believe otherwise.
Elected officials, strategists, historians and sociologists say the lasting effects of the pandemic are visible today in the debates over inflation, education, public health, college debt, crime and trust in American democracy itself. The lingering trauma from that time, they said, is contributing to a sense of national malaise that voters express in polling and focus groups — a kind of pandemic hangover that appears to be hurting Mr. Biden and helping Mr. Trump in their presidential rematch.
How a Pandemic Malaise Is Shaping American Politics
It disrupted every aspect of life in profound ways. So how could it not remain in our collective consciousness? The irony being Trump gaining advantage from the "pandemic hangover" after his admin botched the response to it. Vanity caused his reluctance to act aggressively in its initial stages. Apathy prevented a coordinated distribution plan for the vaccine as his focus turned to insurrection in the last months of his presidency.
Biden vents frustration with Trump on transition
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday vented frustration with President Trump for obstructing the transition process, saying that “more people may die” from the coronavirus because the incoming administration has not been included in the plans to distribute a vaccine.
Speaking from near his home in Delaware, Biden warned that the nation faces a “dark winter” from a resurgence in coronavirus cases. He called on Congress to take up a House-passed stimulus bill to provide economic relief to those who are struggling amid the slowdown.
And Biden ripped the Trump administration, which has so far declined to acknowledge Biden’s victory and has taken steps to keep the president-elect locked out of the customary transition process.
Biden said Trump’s transition delays would lead directly to more coronavirus deaths, as the incoming and outgoing administrations have no plans to coordinate their vaccine distribution efforts.
“More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” Biden said.
Biden vents frustration with Trump on transition
Public confidence in institutions — the presidency, public schools, the criminal justice system, the news media, Congress — slumped in surveys in the aftermath of the pandemic and has yet to recover. The pandemic hardened voter distrust in government, a sentiment Mr. Trump and his allies are using to their advantage. Fears of political violence, even civil war, are at record highs, and rankings of the nation’s happiness at record lows. And views of the nation’s economy and confidence in the future remain bleak, even as the country has defied expectations of a recession.
“The pandemic pulled the rug from people — you were never quite as secure as you were,” Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, a Democrat, said in an interview. “We’re starting to get our grounding back. But I think it’s just hard for people to feel good again.”
High rates of office vacancies have crippled urban downtowns, adding to the sense that the country has yet to recover fully. Depression and anxiety rates remain stubbornly high, particularly among young adults. Students remain behind in math and reading, part of the continued fallout from school closures. And even positive news has been met with skepticism: F.B.I. data released this month confirmed that crime declined significantly in 2023, though polling conducted at the end of last year has shown that voters believe otherwise.
Elected officials, strategists, historians and sociologists say the lasting effects of the pandemic are visible today in the debates over inflation, education, public health, college debt, crime and trust in American democracy itself. The lingering trauma from that time, they said, is contributing to a sense of national malaise that voters express in polling and focus groups — a kind of pandemic hangover that appears to be hurting Mr. Biden and helping Mr. Trump in their presidential rematch.
How a Pandemic Malaise Is Shaping American Politics
It disrupted every aspect of life in profound ways. So how could it not remain in our collective consciousness? The irony being Trump gaining advantage from the "pandemic hangover" after his admin botched the response to it. Vanity caused his reluctance to act aggressively in its initial stages. Apathy prevented a coordinated distribution plan for the vaccine as his focus turned to insurrection in the last months of his presidency.
Biden vents frustration with Trump on transition
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday vented frustration with President Trump for obstructing the transition process, saying that “more people may die” from the coronavirus because the incoming administration has not been included in the plans to distribute a vaccine.
Speaking from near his home in Delaware, Biden warned that the nation faces a “dark winter” from a resurgence in coronavirus cases. He called on Congress to take up a House-passed stimulus bill to provide economic relief to those who are struggling amid the slowdown.
And Biden ripped the Trump administration, which has so far declined to acknowledge Biden’s victory and has taken steps to keep the president-elect locked out of the customary transition process.
Biden said Trump’s transition delays would lead directly to more coronavirus deaths, as the incoming and outgoing administrations have no plans to coordinate their vaccine distribution efforts.
“More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” Biden said.
Biden vents frustration with Trump on transition
