STUNNING POLL: After 1 Year and 500,000 Deaths, Same Number of Republicans STILL Think Threat of Covid ‘Exaggerated’

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A stunning poll out this week shows that Republican skepticism about the threat from the coronavirus has not budged from where it was one year ago, even after over half a million American Deaths.

This week marked the one year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic, and the nationwide shutdown that attended it. As we reported this week, many predictions and pronouncements have aged poorly in the intervening time, but one thing has not: Republicans’ opinions about the threat posed by the virus.

Respondents to a new Yahoo! News/YouGov poll were asked “Do you believe the threat of coronavirus has been exaggerated?”

An overwhelming 58 percent of all respondents said “no,” with only 30 percent replying “yes.”

But among Republicans, 57 percent say the threat is exaggerated,  and only 30 percent say it is not.

When the same question was asked exactly a year ago, skepticism was much more widespread, with 44 percent overall saying the threat was exaggerated. But among Republicans, that percentage was almost identical to today’s at 58 percent — a statistical tie.

President Joe Biden marked the anniversary this week with an address to the nation, during which he grieved with the country, and called on Americans to do their part to get vaccinated. But a significant chunk of Republicans still say they won’t get vaccinated.