President Trump has defended Americans’ rights to safely protest during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When asked about the growing number of protests around the country, Trump said that some governors got “carried away.”
He specifically called out Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who banned the sale of fruit and vegetable seeds while allowing lottery tickets to be sold.
Other governors such as Virginia’s Ralph Northan have appeared to use the crisis to push partisan policies. Northam has restricted gun sales during the COVID-19 crisis.
More details on the growing protests as well as the president’s comments below:
Trump's comments come after the White House is set to reveal guidelines for states to reopen the country.
Some states such as Ohio and Texas are leading the way to reopen their economies in May.
Others such as South Dakota have refused to lockdown -- period. Governor Noem said that she will protect individual rights and liberties and refuses to give power to the government to dictate what people can and can't do.
Breitbart confirms that Trump supported the protesters safely expressing their viewpoints:
President Donald Trump on Saturday defended protesters who were challenging state governors for increasingly harsh lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.
“There is a lot of injustice,” Trump said during the White House press briefing in response to a question from reporters about the growing number of lockdown protests across the country.
The president pointed to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s questionable list of prohibited activities and banned goods available for purchase.
“I really believe somebody sitting in their boat in a lake should be ok,” Trump said. “They shouldn’t arrest people.”
Some of Whitmer’s orders include banning Michiganders from going out in their boats while allowing kayaks to go out into the water and prohibiting residents from buying garden seeds or car seats while allowing sales of marijuana.
“Some of them are being unreasonable, I really believe that,” Trump said.
The protest in Michigan, dubbed "Operation Gridlock," was safely organized, since participants stayed confined in their cars.
Typical protests see thousands of people line the streets shoulder to shoulder.
Operation Gridlock, however, had thousands of citizens in their cars in Lansing, Michigan.
Residents of other states took note and modeled their protests in a similar fashion.
The Trump administration has pledged enough testing kits and support to justify a strategic reopening of the United States economy.
President Trump has often stated that the cure cannot be worse than the virus itself.
As a result of the economic shutdown, jobless claims and the velocity of unemployment have reached historic heights.
Politico reports that the Trump administration is confident in its guidance to reopen the country:
Vice President Mike Pence on Friday said the U.S. has enough coronavirus testing capacity to reopen the country, even as states say they are struggling to keep up with demand.
“Our best scientists and health experts assess that today we have a sufficient amount of testing to meet the requirements of a phase one reopening if state governors should choose to do that,” Pence said during a White House press briefing, referencing the first piece of the administration's guidance to states on how to lift social distancing measures.
President Donald Trump told reporters that the U.S. has run 3.78 million tests so far — “more than any other country.” He touted the administration’s efforts to dramatically ramp up testing after an initial rocky rollout in the first months of the coronavirus outbreak.
[...]Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious disease expert, acknowledged existing issues with the testing supply chain but said they are being corrected.
“I know what it means when someone tells you 'Hey, you have what you need,' and you look around and you say 'Well, maybe you think I have what I need but I don't really have what I need,'" Fauci said at the White House briefing. "So we have to figure out, how do we close that gap?
It is unlikely that a vaccine or cure will be developed or mass produced this calendar year.
Since a potential vaccine is still months (if not over a year) away, many observers note that a prolonged shutdown is not feasible.
Rather than keeping the economy shut down indefinitely, the strategic reopening of businesses coupled with strict social distancing and hygiene measures will help keep our country and its jobs safe.
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