U.S is very isolated. Especially when it comes to news. You'd be surprised at how poorly versed American citizens are about world affairs. Domestic policies and issues dominate the news. You have to have a newspaper subscription to get some news about the world.
To be fair, the U.S is huge and practically its own continent so lots of news to go around, but Europe and Asian countries know a lot more about the U.S current events than the other way around.
i wouldnt be surprised if covid was seen as a hoax by so many because international news is not a thing. I personally had seen murmurs of Chinese cities shutting down, then when italy shut down, and soon my relatives in UK were barred from literally visiting their own relatives, i was like shit is about to hit the fan. It was so bizarre to see everyone else claim it was not a thing for weeks until it hit my town. Like do you people even know whats going on around the world?
So when you have your leaders literally come out and say other countries are using us, the population is inclined to believe them. if you dont believe your leaders, who do you believe?