You’ll often hear progressive analysts spout things like “Today’s Trump Republican Party is living in an alternate reality,” and I have to believe a good chunk of self-described middle-of-the-road observers think they’re just being hyperbolic with their rhetoric. To those individuals, please allow me to provide as evidence exhibit number 942,111,086,213,665 – a Yahoo News/YouGov poll.
This poll surveyed 1,583 registered voters and was conducted between October 16th and 18th of this year. I’m now going to share a few of the results and dissect them.
When asked the question, “How worried are you about COVID-19?,” 68% of the respondents checked either “very worried” or “somewhat worried,” while 32% checked “not very worried” or “not worried at all.” Among Republican voters, 48% answered “very worried” or “somewhat worried” and 52% answered “not very worried” or “not worried at all.” Think about that – more than half of all Republican voters are not worried about a virus which has been responsible for over 230,000 deaths in this country. That is the equivalent of 77 9/11 attacks and we’re not close to being done yet.
Then, in a similar question, when asked, “How worried are you personally about experiencing COVID-19?,” 63% of respondents checked “very worried” or “somewhat worried,” while 37% checked “not too worried” or “not worried at all.” Among Republicans, just 45% responded with “very worried” or “somewhat worried” and 55% responded with “not too worried” or “not worried at all.”
Once again, when it comes to a virus which has killed 230,000+ Americans, more than half of registered Republicans say, “No big deal. It’s not going to hurt me.” Apparently, while the GOP likes to proclaim that they’re the party of God, many within the party actually think they are gods.
When asked the question, “Have you noticed a difference between the Democrats and Republicans you know personally in whether they wear face masks or not?,” 53% checked the option which read “Democrats are more likely to wear face masks,” while just 3% checked “Republicans are more likely to wear face masks.” The remaining 44% checked that there was “no difference between Democrats and Republicans.” Even Republicans admitted Democrats were more likely than them to wear masks, as 32% of self-described GOPers suggested as much and only 7% felt that the opposite was true. So even Republicans are saying, “Yes, Democrats are being more responsible than we are.” Then again, they’re also thinking, “Yes, Democrats are bigger pansies than we are.” Why wearing a mask to help prevent the spread of a deadly virus is seen as weak is beyond me, but I digress.
The question was then asked, “If and when a coronavirus vaccine becomes available, will you get vaccinated? Among Democrats, 48% said they’d get vaccinated and 19% said they wouldn’t, for a net +29%. Among Republicans, those numbers were 34% and 40%, respectively, for a net -6%. I find this funny, because Donald Trump is the president. He’s been the one talking up all of these potential vaccines – from shining lights up your butt to injecting Lysol to something having to do with MyPillow. Due to all of these ridiculously erroneous claims, Democratic leaders have received criticism from Republican leaders, in saying they wouldn’t trust a vaccine under Trump until it was approved by doctors, scientists, and the FDA. Yet here we see that, even despite those understandable hesitancies, Democrats are 35% more likely to get vaccinated than Republicans.
Along these same lines, when asked, “How soon would you want to be vaccinated against COVID-19?,” 68% of Democrats said either “as soon as a vaccine becomes available” or “after waiting and seeing what happens when others take it” and 48% of Republicans responded similarly. On the flip-side, while just 19% of Democrats said they’d never get vaccinated, a whopping 40% of Republicans suggested as much. So, even with Donald Trump – their lord and savior – as president, 2 out of every 5 Republicans won’t get vaccinated against a virus which has killed over 230,000 Americans. I can only imagine what that percentage would be if Obama were president…
When asked the question, “How does COVID-19 compare with the flu in the U.S.?,” 63% of participants checked “more deadly,” while 29% checked either “less deadly” or “about the same.” Among Republicans, however, just 39% said COVID was “more deadly” than the flu and 48% said it was either “less deadly” or “about the same.” The average flu season results in about 37,000 deaths. COVID eclipsed that number many moons ago, and it’s being estimated we could reach 400,000 deaths in this country by the end of the year. For as much as I like to poke fun at Flonase commercials, at least they’ve never said, “…and 37,000 is greater than 400,000.”
Survey participants were then asked, “Which should the Senate do first?” Among Democrats, 87% said “vote on COVID-19 relief package” and 6% responded “vote on the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.” Among Republicans, those numbers were 41% and 49%. So, Democrats overwhelmingly think the Senate should take care of American families over voting in a Supreme Court Justice which could help take away the healthcare of millions of Americans. The Republican Party, however? No, they think it’s more important to take away people’s healthcare than to provide families with financial help during this pandemic. I know, what better time to take away people’s healthcare than during a pandemic, right? What would Jesus do? Not that.
We then get to Qanon conspiracy theories. When asked, “Do you believe that top Democrats are involved in elite child sex-trafficking rings?,” 25% said “yes and 51% said “no,” for a net of -26%. Among Republicans, the net was +29%, as 50% responded “yes” and just 21% responded “no.”
In another Qanon-related question, it was asked, “Do you believe that President Trump is working to dismantle an elite child sex-trafficking ring involving top Democrats?” 24% of overall respondents checked “yes” and 47% checked “no,” for a net of -23%. Among Republicans, those numbers were 49% and 18%, for a net of +31%. This is pretty amazing. Donald Trump has been accused by between 40 and 50 women of sexual improprieties. This includes a then young teenage girl claiming he raped her – not to mention many teenage beauty pageant contestants saying he often walked in on them while they were nude and dressing. So, to think Donald Trump, of all people, is the one trying to dismantle a child sex-trafficking ring would be like suggesting Jeffrey Dahmer was the one to go to for the latest vegan dieting tips.
There were then some election-related questions asked. Here were the results:
“How worried are you about interference by foreign countries?”
- 39% of Democrats said “very worried” and 10% said “not worried”
- Among Republicans, 9% said “very worried” and 40% said “not worried”
“How worried are you that the outcome of the election will not be accepted by one of the candidates?”
- 47% of Democrats answered “very worried” and 6% answered “not worried”
- 17% of Republicans responded “very worried” and 33% responded “not worried”
“How worried are you that people will be prevented from voting?”
- 49% of Democrats said “very worried” and 9% said “not worried”
- 12% of Republicans responded “very worried” and 48% responded “not worried”
“Which will be a bigger problem on election day?”
- 8% of Democrats answered “people voting who shouldn’t be allowed to vote” and 79% answered “people who should be allowed to vote not being allowed to vote”
- 72% of Republicans checked “people voting who shouldn’t be allowed to vote” and 13% checked “people who should be allowed to vote not being allowed to vote”
So, let me get this straight. It was proven that there was significant interference in the 2016 election and there have already been reports of attempted interference in the 2020 election, yet Republicans aren’t worried about that. Also, even though Donald Trump has said he’s not sure whether or not he’d accept the election results if he were defeated, Republicans aren’t worried about either candidate not accepting the results. Then, in addition to all of that, while it seems Democrats want people to vote, Republicans don’t.
Take a step back for a second and think about what all I’ve shared here today. The Republican Party: isn’t worried about a virus which has killed over 230,000 Americans; believes a sexual predator is trying to dismantle a child sex-trafficking ring of the opposing party; won’t acknowledge the fact our democracy was disrupted in 2016 and there’s a chance it could happen again; and would rather people not vote. To them, it’s unpatriotic to kneel before the flag, and yet the red, white, and blue portrayed on this piece of cloth, to them, seems to only symbolize Russia, skin color, and the sadness our founders must feel as the GOP attempts to turn this land of freedom and opportunity back to the Confederacy. There’s only one way we hang onto any semblance of a democracy in this country and that’s vote out Donald Trump and his Republican enablers. Vote!
https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/77ukszgou2/20201019_yahoo_tabs.pdf
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