Populist protests against Coronavirus-related restrictions in the US appear paradoxical in three respects Populism is generally hostile to expertise, yet it has flourished at a moment when expertise has seemed more indispensable than ever Populism thrives on crisis and indeed often depends on fabricating a sense of crisis, yet it has accused mainstream politicians and media of overblowing and even inventing the Corona crisis Populism, finally, is ordinarily protectionist, yet it has turned anti-protectionist during the pandemic and challenged the allegedly overprotective restrictions of the nanny-state I address each apparent paradox in turn before speculating in conclusion about how populist distrust of expertise, antipathy to government regulation, and skepticism toward elite overprotectiveness may come together ? in the context of intersecting medical, economic, political, and epistemic crises ? in a potent and potentially dangerous mix
Paradoxes of populism during the pandemic