I'm not sure that's true in times of crisis. Bush's approval ratings and trust levels with the general public went through the roof during 9/11. Obviously he squandered that, just as the CDC has done here.
Just to be clear, I believe this is an emergent phenomenon with social media and the internet. "21st century" maybe would be better stated as around 2009 or so.
If 9/11 happened in the current world (under trump OR biden), the political circus, division, and paranoia would be immense.
