Ed Morrissey makes what should appear to any sane or sensible person to be the actual point of this graph released by PEW (pew-pew) Research. They claim that their data and this awesome graph they have proves something. It does, just not what they think.
ICYMI: 2005 NIH Journal: “Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread.”
COVID-19 deaths have declined in Democratic congressional districts since mid-April, but remained relatively steady in districts controlled by Republicans
COVID-19 deaths have declined in Democratic congressional districts since mid-April, but remained relatively steady in districts controlled by Republicans. https://t.co/NnUcKYt67w pic.twitter.com/R3mdZ1l8c4
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) May 27, 2020
It looks like fewer people died in Republican districts from beginning to end, which Ed sums up nicely as, “Coronavirus death toll is heavily concentrated in Democratic congressional districts.”
More from Ed Morrissey.
The obvious reason why GOP-controlled districts have a shallower decline in death rates is because they had a much shallower incline. The peak in these districts was just one-third of the peak in Democrat districts, which still have more than twice the rate of deaths at this time. This is so obvious that it speaks to a blinding bias on the part of Pew Research that they couldn’t see it for themselves before publishing it — and then promoting this hot take.
And oh, by the way, how is any of that Trump’s fault?
I know, racism. Got it.
Democrats cram themselves into urban jungles, use health-hazardous public transportation, and vote for Democrat members of congress, city councils, and mayors. Most of whom have been knee-jerking the anti-trump dance all along. The Classic TDS Trump said this, we’re doing that.
How’s that working out America?
Not that bad if you live outside the Boston to Newark area if this is any indication. But back to Pew (pew-pew) and Ed’s take.
Pandemics spread faster in higher-density populations, which is all this actually shows. Republicans got pushed out of high-density urban districts a generation or more ago, and now represent suburban/rural voters — where pandemics of any stripe would spread more slowly.
In other words, it is not just stupid.
That’s really all this actually shows, other than a non-causative correlation. Put it this way: what impact does a House member have on policy and governance specific to his/her district? None at all, which is why this analysis is entirely useless.
It is data farmed and presented to create a partisan narrative whose value is to determine whom on the left wants it to mean what it says and not what it means.
Does anyone think that was the goal of Pew (pew-pew) Research when they published it?
And if a House member has little or no control, how the heck does President Trump? He declared an emergency so they could bypass the bureaucratic morass to get things done and resources allocated. The local day to day management of resources is the job of Mayors and City Councils that – let’s use de Blasio and Cuomo as examples – enacted policies (or did not) that resulted in the most vulnerable being exposed to a virus that could kill them and did which the graph shows.
That is not the President’s fault.
As if Donald Trump saying anything to the contrarian left would have made a dimes difference. He’d have had to suggest the wrong policy (Playing by their rules) to get them to use the right one (to save lives), and then he’d be on record as to what? Suggesting the wrong thing. But hey, thanks to Pew (pew-pew) for shooting Democrats and themselves in the foot.
