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On NYE, Fauci makes an argument I haven't heard him articulate so explicitly before: Americans' deep cultural/political divisions rendered the U.S. uniquely vulnerable to Covid-19.
"The pandemic emerged, from the standpoint of a societal issue, at the worst possible time." (1/X)
"The pandemic emerged, from the standpoint of a societal issue, at the worst possible time." (1/X)
"Anybody who views what's going on throughout the world, but particularly in our own country, there's a great deal of divisiveness. ... If there's any situation in which one needs to pull together ... it's when you have an infectious disease outbreak of pandemic proportions."
"The divisiveness that has permeated this year ... it has been striking. And that has made it very, very difficult. I mean, you know what has gone on."
"If you have the wearing of masks or not turn into a political issue, [that] is not helpful when you're trying to implement a public health program."
!["If you have the wearing of masks or not turn into a political issue, [that] is not helpful when you're trying to implement a public health program."](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EqltiBrXUAU7opX.jpg "\"If you have the wearing of masks or not turn into a political issue, [that] is not helpful when you're trying to implement a public health program.\"")
"...When you have some people feel that an outbreak that is killing people at a record proportion ... and there are still people in this country that are saying it's a hoax, or that it doesn't exist, or that it's fake news, that's unimaginable to me."
"...And yet, you go to certain regions of the country, even in areas where the hospitals are being stressed and strained to take care of the people, there still is skepticism as to whether this is real."
"You're not going to get a good public health response that's unified and consistent when you have that kind of attitude in certain parts of the country. And indeed, we do have that kind of attitude in certain parts of the country."
