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America’s Ideological Infection

The United States is not only in the grips of a COVID-19 crisis that threatens to derail the economy and potentially take millions of lives. It is also suffering from a president who is deeply suspicious of expertise and of governance generally.

NEW YORK – Americans may have a well-known love affair with their cars, but it was the South Koreans who first introduced drive-through testing for COVID-19 – a simple measure that drastically minimizes the risk of infection. Americans also have a well-known preference for straight talk, bluntness, and clarity of thought. And yet, it is the South Koreans who have met the coronavirus pandemic head on.

To be sure, South Korea is one of the world’s most advanced countries (though many Koreans would modestly dismiss such accolades). But so, too, is the United States. Why, then, has the US lagged so far behind in its response to the pandemic?

The short answer is that the US has a president who is fundamentally unfit for the job, both intellectually and temperamentally. The majority of Americans already reached this conclusion years ago. If current trends in public opinion continue, Donald Trump is set to lose the election this November, to be replaced by his polar opposite: the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden.

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