His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and report on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Not only did he use the town hall to criticize Trump for not advocating strongly enough for lockdowns, but he also wrongly claimed that the then-president could have prevented the death of every single person killed by COVID. “If the president had done his job, had done his job from the beginning, all the people would still be alive. In a CNN town hall discussion in September 2020, Biden also appeared to criticize President Donald Trump for not implementing lockdown measures sooner. “I would shut it down, I would listen to the scientists,” he said. Gavin Newsom have flouted strictures, rather than forgo a visit to a hair salon or a world-class French restaurant.In August 2020, Joe Biden told ABC’s David Muir in an interview with running mate Kamala Harris that as president he would “do whatever it takes” to stop the spread of the virus, including locking down the economy if it was necessary. Still, the likes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California Gov. Afterward, she said that there are times when “we actually do need to have relief and come together,” without explaining why this wide-ranging justification wouldn’t apply to the Thanksgiving gatherings she wanted to cancel.ĭuring this moment, the political class should have been especially sensitive to playing by its own rules, when those rules have been so relatively easy to bear for the elite and so punishing for ordinary workers. Yet just days earlier, she happily joined a crowd celebrating Biden’s election victory. Particularly if they include guests that do not live in your immediate household.” In retrospect, though, the nationwide lockdowns of the spring closed down some states before they experienced their initial waves of the disease, imposing economic, mental-health and medical costs without much upside.Īfter that kind of sacrifice, it’s hard to double-dip and ask people to do it again.Įspecially when the latest advice runs against the grain of one of the nation’s oldest traditions, namely Thanksgiving, and when prominent pro-restriction officeholders discredit themselves with their own behavior.Ī week or so ago, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told residents of her city, “You must cancel the normal Thanksgiving plans. When the new virus first hit our shores, and we knew much less about it, the case for lockdowns was strong to keep the health-care system from getting overwhelmed and to play for time (and better treatments). But a significant segment of the US public has lost its patience with a new normal that has, at times, been arbitrary and poorly thought through. It would be much better if we could find a prudent middle path through the next several months, as the pandemic enters its worst phase and as new vaccines arrive that will soon start changing everything. Jim Jordan in a recent tweet, forecasting things to come. What about freedom?” asked conservative Rep. The right’s populism and limited-government impulse, which separated in the Trump years, will presumably be reunited in the push against lockdowns in a way that they haven’t been since the days of the Tea Party. 'President Biden says that we are not returning to lockdowns, shutdowns and school closures,' Doocy said, 'but he also once said that we didn't have to wear masks anymore once we were vaccinated. It is an iron law of American politics that whichever party doesn’t control the presidency will suspect the other of plotting to impose a tyranny, so the fear and loathing of COVID-19 restrictions, somewhat muted on the right while Donald Trump was president, will deepen and intensify. The ascension of Joe Biden will add force to the reaction. But it is, in all likelihood, about to reach a entirely new level - fueled by exhaustion with the virus, infuriating displays of elite hypocrisy and the shattered credibility of the public-health establishment. We saw this sentiment play out in sporadic anti-lockdown demonstrations last spring, and it has driven ongoing resistance to masks. It already seems clear that the first major political and cultural eruption of the Biden years will be a roiling populist backlash against the next round of COVID-19 lockdowns and other restrictions on ordinary life. 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