Politics and the Spread of COVID-19 in the United States

Analysis of U.S. counties revealed that political views were strongly related to COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents. Death rates were much higher in counties that strongly supported Trump in the 2020 presidential election than in counties where he received a lower proportion of the vote. The relationship between political views and COVID-19 deaths remained strong in regression models after other relevant variables were statistically controlled. The relationship between political views and COVID-19 deaths rates was especially strong after vaccines were generally available to the general public. Results from this study indicate that persons in Trump leaning counties tended to not follow the advice of health experts, including wearing masks, social distancing, and getting vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. Such actions resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths.