Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 prevention? How to separate science from partisanship

A Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,000 American adults conducted in April found that 53 percent of Republicans were willing to take anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, while only 18 percent of Democrats were willing to try it.

The utter arbitrariness of how public opinion on scientific questions has fractured along partisan divides reveals something rotten at the core of the national conversation.

No one is surprised to see political polarization around issues of taxation, immigration, welfare or military spending. But it has been remarkable to see such deep partisan divides about basic medical science. And as has become very clear this year, it is especially dangerous during a global pandemic.