A new report from The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins reveals that some conservative Trump supporters are intentionally defying recommended social distancing protocols as a way to stick it to their political foes.
In his article, Coppins interviews Georgia resident Geoff Frost, who says that older conservatives who play at his local country club have made a habit of blowing off recommendations against shaking hands and sharing golf carts during the worst public health crisis the United States has faced in decades.
“The white-haired Republicans seemed to delight in breaking the new rules,” Coppins writes. “They made a show of shaking hands, and complained loudly about the ‘stupid hoax’ being propagated by virus alarmists. When their tee times were up, they piled defiantly into golf carts, shoulder to shoulder, and sped off toward the first hole.”
Coppins also interviews some conservatives in Texas who similarly tell him that they won’t change anything about their lifestyles to accommodate the new reality of the pandemic.
“Bret, a sales representative from Plano, Texas, who asked that I not use his last name, proudly told me how unfazed he and his conservative neighbors were by the threat of an outbreak,” Coppins reports. “In his view, the recent wave of government-mandated lockdowns was a product of panic-mongering in the mainstream media, and he welcomed Trump’s call for businesses to reopen by Easter.”