The corporate news outlets, which always play politics with COVID-19, wanted to portray the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota as a dangerous health event.
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Before its Aug. 6 opening, the Washington Post ominously warned: “Sturgis Motorcycle Rally revs up, drawing thousands and heightening delta super spreader fears”; CBS blared:“Sturgis motorcycle rally sparks fears of super spreader event.”
But like last August, the derisive press thankfully didn’t get their wish. Two weeks after the gathering with more than a half-million attendees concluded, fewer than 200 cases have been attributed to the event.
The Associated Press still breathlessly reported Sunday that “nearly 4,000 people have been newly diagnosed with COVID-19 in the state,” but later noted that “a South Dakota Department of Health spokesman declined to link the Sturgis rally to the rising virus surge, noting only 39 COVID-19 cases directly attributed to the rally.”
That such a small number of statewide cases came from Sturgis is a miracle and should have been the headline.
On Monday, the Los Angeles Times, whose writers likely could not find South Dakota on a map, claimed “scores of coronavirus cases recorded.” Scores? How many, and compared to what?
If numbers still matter to agenda seekers, the entire U.S. averaged 276 new COVID cases per 100,000 people over 10 days ending last week, while the Mount Rushmore State averaged only 156.
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Why the misinformation? Politics.
South Dakota is a deep red state with an outspoken conservative governor who values freedom, follows the science, and has challenged flawed narratives from media and health “experts” for 18 months. Sturgis is also the quintessential American event with an older, whiter, right-leaning crowd. There was little to no media outrage when Black Lives Matter hooligans caroused across dozens of major cities last year or hundreds recently partied at Barack Obama’s island mansion.
Will the coastal media confess their errors and apologize to Gov. Kristi Noem or the hundreds of thousands who attended the rally in the Black Hills? You’re more likely to find oceanfront property in South Dakota or see Ron Klain at the 2022 rally.
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