Supporting US shutdown, not protests

What exactly are we to make of the protests against the current shutdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic?
For one thing, they’re small and unrepresentative: The vast majority of US citizens say they support the shutdown policy, and that support is if anything growing. Political scientist John Sides has the data. “Cancel all meetings or gatherings of more than 10 people, like sports events, concerts, conferences, etc.” has 87% of the public’s support. “Restrict all non-essential travel outside the home” has 86% support, while 88% agree that we should “Encourage people to stay in their homes and avoid socialising with others.” Sides adds that strong support for these and similar measures is at 64%, which is up a bit from March.
So when ABC News claims that these protests indicate that “Opposition to Covid-19 stay-at-home orders has continued to build from coast to coast” they’re just plain wrong.
Now, it’s also the case that these protests appear to be “astroturfed” — that is, they’re organised efforts by national political groups intended to show grass-roots support. That doesn’t mean that they’re not real, or shouldn’t be covered by the media. But the sponsors are part of the story too, as is the fact that public opinion is overwhelmingly on the other side. That should be the context when deciding whether to spend scarce media time on this story.
What adds to the confusion is that these rallies are often done in the name of President Donald Trump, even though they’re protesting Trump’s own policies.
After all, while state governors are the immediate targets of the protests, and are generally the ones putting the restrictions in place, those policies are fully consistent with what the Trump administration has been
recommending. Yes, Trump himself has been ambivalent about them at times, but he’s been mostly committed since extending the federal guidelines through the end of April.
It’s true that there are still a few voices within the Republican-aligned media who are downplaying the pandemic, even as the infections and death tolls continue to rise. But again to Trump’s credit, he has largely separated himself from such talk. If anything, he’s been inflating the damage the coronavirus would be doing without government action. Even his talk last week about opening things up in May turned out to be far less than meets the eye. Trump may still hope for a miraculous recovery, but for now he appears to actually be listening to the experts.
And yet he can’t quite bring himself to admit that he’s choosing the responsible policy, or to criticise anyone who supports him.
—Bloomberg