OPINION:
Washington Times columnist Cheryl K. Chumley is biking the battleground states as part of an ongoing series, visiting 14 states in 14 days to hear what real Americans think of the 2020 election. All of her interviews may be found HERE.
PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA — It’s one thing for Americans to take simple, sane, sensible solutions to protect themselves from getting sick. It’s another thing entirely to shut down an entire nation, an entire economy, entire school and church and business communities, all for — fear?
Fear mixed with politics.
So says South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem anyway.
“There is definitely a political element to what’s happening in the country, even in South Dakota, even with our media,” she said, in an interview at her governor’s offices. “You can send them 10 factual data points of where we are in dealing with the virus … and their headline will be the worst one that misconstrues the reality of what we see on the ground today.”
And it’s had a massive effect on the population.
“I think they’re doing a great disservice to the public by doing that, by instilling this fear,” Noem said. “I’ve been shocked to watch how fear motivates people how it moves people throughout this pandemic. We never make good decisions when we’re making emotional decisions.”
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE.
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