You have entirely missed my point.

The question you are trying to ask is "why do my coworkers listen to the GOP establishment (who are telling lies), instead of Democratic leadership and the scientific establishment (who are telling the truth)"?

I am trying to answer you: "because Democratic leadership and the scientific establishment are dishonest, partisan, and incompetent". Do not accuse me of supporting Trump or the GOP; I believe that anyone who chooses to represent the GOP is a coward and a fool, and that nothing the GOP has done or said in the past three decades has had a positive effect on this country. One would think that I am in the exact correct mindset to believe "the good authorities", the same ones that you believe, and yet I do not.

I again point to the line from the original article:

> Relentless propaganda against public health measures no doubt contributes to erosion of trust. However, that mistrust may also be fueled by the sorry state of health insurance in this country and the deep inequities in health care — at a minimum, this could make people more vulnerable to misinformation.

Whoever authored that line holds a deep faith in the scientific and Democratic establishment. They would never label anything their preferred authorities said as "misinformation", even their authorities spread information that was incorrect and stopped people from making good decisions, which they did. That they would ever question their own faith in those establishments is unthinkable. I would bet $50 that whoever wrote that line believed that the anti-masking protests of 2020 were dangerous COVID-spreading opportunities, but supported the George Floyd protests of 2020 as a matter of social necessity without bringing up COVID spreading once.

Supporters of the GOP like your coworkers may be blind to the logical failings and dishonesty of their own preferred authorities, but they are not blind to the logical failings and dishonesty of your preferred authorities. That is why they do not believe your authorities. The propaganda and misinformation spread by the GOP that you linked is an excuse for conservatives to revolt against the scientific establishment, as they already wanted to do, not the cause of their revolt. If GOP leadership fell in line with the scientific establishment and started spreading pro-vaccine, pro-mask, anti-COVID information, their supporters would abandon them. Didn't you hear the protestors on January 6th chanting "Hang Mike Pence"? Are you so blind to the nature of the standard American conservative that you believe that they only take orders from their leaders, and that changing what their leaders are saying would bring them back into heel?

As I explained earlier, your preferred authorities are incapable of believing themselves at fault for anything, or admitting that they were wrong. They broke public trust by their incompetence and dishonesty, and they will never regain it. Have you seen the videos of Democratic politicians, who faithfully follow the "COVID guidelines" and spread pro-vaccine and pro-mask information, interacting unmasked off-camera and then putting their masks on when the news broadcast starts rolling? Did you see Nancy Pelosi get her hair cut and hold dinner parties while at the same time advocating for stricter anti-COVID measures, and make extremely successful stock trades through her husband as the economy began to crash and recover? The "good guys" aren't real. That's why I commented.