On Monday morning, White House COVID-19 task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci warned the right-wing protesters defying their governors’ stay at home orders that the economic relief they’re seeking won’t come if they flout the orders.
During an interview with “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos, Fauci recognized the protesters’ frustration that the orders are “hurting from the standpoint of economics” amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
“But unless we get the virus under control, the real recovery, economically, is not going to happen,” the doctor told Stephanopoulos. “If you jump the gun and go into a situation where you have a big spike, you’re going to set yourself back.”
“So as painful as it is to go by the careful guidelines of gradually phasing into a reopening, it’s going to backfire,” he continued. “That’s the problem.”
Right-wing protesters, including President Donald Trump’s supporters, across the country have been revolting against governors’ orders for non-essential businesses to shut down to tamp down on the outbreak.
Trump, who reluctantly extended the government’s guidelines on social distancing, has been cheering on the demonstrators, describing them as “great people” and calling on them to “LIBERATE” the states in which they’re protesting.
Watch Fauci below:
“Clearly this is something that this is hurting …. but unless we get the virus under control, the real recovery, economically, is not going to happen.” — NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci on protests against stay-at-home orders. pic.twitter.com/n7x3cunEAm
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 20, 2020
