Governors across the country are banding together in the face of President Donald Trump’s plans to reopen the nation against the advice of health experts.
Over 120,000 Americans are infected with the virus and over 1,200 have died as the coronavirus continues to spread uncontrollably. Trump’s response to the pandemic has been the overwhelming reason why the virus has spread so rapidly and thoroughly here. States are desperately trying to combat the virus through social distancing and stay-at-home orders. But Trump is poised to undermine those preventative policies by Easter Sunday.
This places governors in an impossible position because their states need medical equipment that Trump refuses to send and his reversal of health policies will result in the pandemic getting worse.
But many governors are stepping up to the challenge, and are preparing to defy Trump together for the sake of the public health.
According to Politico:
“Minnesota’s Tim Walz has started conversations with his counterparts in North Dakota and Wisconsin about an upper Midwest pact to ensure that their states are in sync on rules around social distancing,” reported Dan Goldberg. “That effort follows Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania joining last week to announce the closure of bars, movie theaters, malls and bowling alleys — all to try to avoid a patchwork of lockdowns and orders to close businesses.”
“We will combat this virus by working together and remaining consistent across our borders,” said Gov. Ned Lamont (D-CT). Gov. J. B. Pritzker (D-IL), meanwhile, said “The patchwork remains a patchwork as long as the federal government doesn’t step up and recognize this is a war.”“The federal government needs to lead and until it does we will be a leader here in Illinois.”
Even a few Republican governors are starting to break with Trump because they recognize this virus is a deadly threat that could ravage their states. Unfortunately, many other Republican governors intend to follow Trump’s recklessness, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds.
Still, if some governors don’t get on board with recommendations by health officials and defy Trump, their states will be hit hard, but they also risk spreading the virus further in states with stricter policies.
If enough governors come together, perhaps they can force Trump to actually make a good decision for once. But he will likely just complain and make threats because, in the end, he doesn’t actually care about public health and American lives.
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