Why did Donald Trump win the presidential election of 2024? Two reasons: Covid and Covid. The first reason is well known: the pandemic brought in its wake global supply shocks and stimulus spending that sent inflation soaring. Americans, especially those on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder, struggled to recover from rising prices and housing costs. 

This eye-opening book points to a second reason: the bungled response to the pandemic, which infuriated working-class Americans. Left-leaning political elites in the USA, aided by the scientific establishment, spun ‘noble’ lies, censored opposing viewpoints and implemented policies imported from China that imposed needless suffering on millions of Americans, particularly the less affluent. The Covid controls fed mistrust of ruling elites and benefited Trump, who promised (for the second time) to drain the swamp and make America great again.

What’s remarkable about this book is that it’s a critique of the response to Covid by left-leaning authors who largely endorse right-wing arguments against stringent Covid controls. Progressive elites might have been expected to favour policies that benefited the worst-off. In practice, however, the Covid controls they promoted imposed unnecessary