China took a lot of heat for its handling of the Coronavirus outbreak —being slow to acknowledge its existence, minimizing the risk it posed to public health, and suppressing information all to avoid embarrassing the ruling party.

These are actions we would expect from an authoritarian government like China’s.

Contrast that with the response of the U.S. government – slow to acknowledge the risks, then blaming the media, the previous administration, and the opposition party for exaggerating the threat, and then prohibiting scientists at CDC and FDA from speaking to the public about the virus. All to avoid embarrassing the leader of the ruling party.

Maybe there’s a difference here that I’m missing?