The Atlantic: “The best way to think about the Republican opposition to COVID-19 precautions might be as another manifestation of the surging feeling in the American conservative movement that it represents an embattled minority that needs to use the power of government to defend its independence. Public opinion consistently shows majority support for mask mandates and vaccine requirements, but several states, all of them GOP-led, have prohibited them. The minority’s insistence on opposing masks and vaccines privileges the individual rights of the few Americans who don’t want to take these steps over those of the collective mass of their compatriots who don’t want themselves or their loved ones to get sick. Although it might come as a surprise from reading news coverage, Americans actually broadly agree on many COVID-19 precautions. An Axios/Ipsos poll released Tuesday finds 69 percent of Americans support mandatory masking in schools, and 64 percent back mask requirements in public places.”

“Republicans are turning to government as a force to impose their will in situations where they have already lost the battle for popular opinion. The fight over COVID-19 echoes previous battles over preemption, such as gun regulation, transgender bathrooms, and immigration enforcement. Donald Trump thrust minority rule into the center of the Republican Party. He was elected president in 2016 with a minority of the popular vote, but has always purported to represent the true consensus of authentic Americans. (‘Silent majorities’ are, it turns out, just minorities.) When he was defeated in 2020 by an even larger popular-vote margin as well as in the Electoral College, his reaction – supported by many members of his party – was to attempt to have votes thrown out, and to allow the minority to override popular will. Many observers have interpreted support for Trump, even among those unlikely to concretely benefit from his policy positions, as a gesture of resentment: They are angry at someone (elites, liberals, the government, the establishment) for telling them how they ought to live. Trump might not materially improve their position, but he’s willing to stick it to those groups – and if that requires antidemocratic means, so be it.”