Break it down by counties. You will see that many of the places within red states that account for the highest levels of poverty, the biggest health epidemics, the worst educational performance, are decidedly blue areas, which voted for Hillary and which have blue elected officials.
Beyond that, he uses the 2016 election alone to define red vs. blue states because it suits his purposes in this case. Several of those states could easily be "blue" after the 2020 elections. Will he pen a column then that updates all this and concludes that other variables more plausibly explain the divide he notes?
This is another variation on the old, "Why can't you stupid people vote the way I want you to vote" sentiment. Both sides do it when their guy loses. Highly effective. This column is red meat for folks like Conor and Chris because it confirms what they already believe.