The lede is buried here, the reason the US is not cohesive is entirely due to the former president who continues to this day to support and spur the anti-vax movement.
By... getting vaxed himself? Why aren't the vax campaigns leading with Trump's action – and his repeated verbal endorsement of choosing to get vaxed – to overcome resistance in his followers?
Such over-focus on Trump is a pathological scapegoating to deflect responsibility on the part of both the professional permanent bureacracies, and the current administration.
Trump did awfully, yes. But the mistrust & errors spring from far deeper cultural issues, and repeated failures by the public health officials - in their mixed-messages, manipulative exagerrations, & arbitrary punitive actions. Vax resistance is at some of its highest levels in urban minority communities with no love for Trump.
> Why aren't the vax campaigns leading with Trump's action – and his repeated verbal endorsement of choosing to get vaxed – to overcome resistance in his followers?
If you go to trump community sites you'll find out that:
1. They think he's an idiot for taking the vax
2. They think he was threatened to taking it
3. He didn't really take it
Interesting. But if they're that persistently delusional, even when Trump's actions & words are contrary to their beliefs, are their actions "entirely due" to Trump?
The phenomena you describe suggest it's bigger & deeper than any devotion given him. (Is it even fair to call them "Trump community sites" at that point?)
No, the US is not cohesive on this subject partly because of dishonest rhetorical tricks, like deliberately conflating hesitancy about this specific vaccine with the "anti-vax movement". And implying that trump disparaged his own Operation Warp Speed. And ignoring that under Trump media was releasing surveys and implying that most people were hesitant about an emergency vaccine approval from the Trump administration, looking for any opportunity to disparage the orange man.
This country is not cohesive because of such rabid, top down left leaning bias in our media, industry, and academia, which stereotypes, belittles, and alienates about 50% of the population.
That he is promoting the vaccine now doesn't ignore the fact that his anti-vax, anti-mask stance while in office essentially drove that movement.
There are numerous [1] points [2] where he could have changed [3] things and saved many many lives but decided it would help him politically to do the opposite.
The anti-vax movement is a monster he created, fed and hoped would net him a re-election. That it's turning on him now (that he's no longer in office) is sad but predictable.
