The political class’s coronavirus credibility crisis endangers public health
With rising case counts and hospitalizations, the coronavirus crisis is getting out of hand in many parts of the United States. Getting the spread of COVID-19 under control, if it is possible, will require individual sacrifice and voluntary action by millions of people. But the possibility of such cooperation has been severely undercut by the ill-timed credibility crisis consuming our hypocritical elected class.
Remember House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “salon scandal” in early September? The California Democrat infuriated the public when she got her hair done despite a San Francisco order banning in-door salon services. Making matters worse, she then blamed the salon owner for “setting her up.”
This flap came after other examples of high-profile hypocrisy, such as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s gym trip while COVID-19 was shutting down his city. These examples have continued apace in recent weeks.
As Tiana Lowe of the Washington Examiner noted, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser is the latest hypocritical politician to be caught breaking her own COVID-19 rules. She traveled out-of-state to party after Joe Biden’s projected presidential victory.
“For us ordinary plebeians, we would have to either quarantine for a fortnight after coming from the other 46 states or get a coronavirus test within 72 hours of arrival and then a negative result,” Lowe explains. “But Bowser exempted herself from her own rules, deeming her celebratory jaunt up the coast ‘essential travel.’”
Right. Bowser bent the rules to attend a pro-Biden bash, but she now continues to instruct city residents about mask-wearing and avoiding gatherings.
Similarly, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has come under fire for hypocrisy. She is calling on her constituents to “cancel the normal Thanksgiving plans.” But she herself congregated in a massive street rally celebrating Biden’s projected presidential victory just days ago.
The latest hypocrite exposed is California Gov. Gavin Newsom. “Gov. Gavin Newsom attended a birthday party last week that included people from several households — the type of gathering his administration has discouraged during the coronavirus pandemic,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The governor’s office did not deny that the party in question included more than three households, the legal limit under current state rules.
This blatant hypocrisy is, of course, morally wrong and infuriating. Too many of our elected officials are asking the public to make tremendous sacrifices, from keeping their children out of traditional schooling, skipping family holiday gatherings, and even adhering to restrictions on hospital visitations and funeral, and yet, they are unwilling to make those same sacrifices in their own personal life.
Yet, the issue here is more than a simple moral question — it’s a threat to public health. The public is, understandably, experiencing serious pandemic fatigue. But given the rising case levels across the country, it’s really important right now that people continue to take safety precautions and do their best to slow the virus’s spread. It’s unrealistic and unfair to expect people across the country to keep abiding by onerous restrictions while officials flout them.
When elite politicians decide the rules don’t apply to them, they aren’t just being woefully hypocritical — they are undermining public health and making the COVID-19 crisis worse.
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