Today David Leonhardt posted two tragic charts in his NYT newsletter, The Morning. They are tragic because they reveal the grim consequences of media illiteracy and politically motivated disinformation. Those who follow Donald Trump and believe in the GOP have sickened and died at much higher rates than those who don’t.

I think it was Stalin who said one person’s death is a tragedy, 100 deaths are a statistic. Leonhardt reveals the tragedy by focusing on a representative unvaccinated couple in New Jersey’s very pro-Trump Ocean County. The woman suffered for months in intensive care with Covid. Both are now vaccinated. The charts above show how much more likely people like them were to suffer the worst impacts of Covid-19.

Here in Bucks County, a “purple” county politically, Covid deaths have averaged five a day in recent months. It wasn’t front page news. I had to dig for the statistic. If the national trends hold true here, most were unvaccinated. Most unvaccinated people lean right politically. Many who lean right see compliance with mask requirements as a blue political statement.

If a serial killer was targeting five unmasked people a day, regardless of their politics there would be a massive mobilization of law enforcement to stop the carnage. So far I see no such reaction to our political mass killers, the ones who fuel anti-vax and anti-mask sentiment with the obvious lethal consequences. Nobody’s accusing those of railed against masks of murder.

What you believe can kill you. if you support Republican politicians, listen to what they say, what they avoid saying, and watch how they actually vote. Are they representing your family’s wellbeing? The public interest?