Daily Beast: “The mayor of Tupelo, Mississippi, can’t find just one thing to blame for a resurgent coronavirus ravaging his state these days.”
“But he’s clear that it starts at the top.”
“To Jason Shelton, the approach taken by President Donald Trump, and the politicizing of the pandemic, is where the problem began. Then it trickled down to the president’s followers, like the state’s GOP governor, who Shelton described as having emulated Trump’s behavior and words toward COVID-19 during the public health crisis.”
“‘What has been created is a mindset of a large segment of the population that COVID is not real, that it isn’t serious,’ said Shelton, a Democrat. ‘There’s the far-out conspiracy theorists that think this whole thing’s an effort to hurt President Trump. I mean, just really outlandish conspiracy theories floating around, which is hampering the ability of all levels of government to respond to COVID-19.'”
“And now his home state of Mississippi, like others across the country is facing the potential consequences.”
“Shelton is among those in the state who have continued to show concern over the statewide handling of the pandemic, which has seen Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves mix in severe warnings about the coronavirus with loosened statewide rules in recent weeks that came before the state’s recent spike in cases.”