Richard Levine, the Health Secretary of Pennsylvania, recently struck a deal in secret allowing an exclusive car show to take place as usual in Harrisburg, despite the event violating multiple statewide orders on maximum attendance and social distancing, according to the Daily Caller.
Levine, who prefers to go by the first name “Rachel” as she is transgender, was revealed to have made the shady deal with the Carlisle Car Show, allowing it to proceed with 20,000 people in attendance per day, over the course of four days. This directly violated the statewide mandate that no public event feature more than 250 people gathered at a time.
Multiple state lawmakers immediately called for an explanation from Levine, citing how multiple other events such as fairs and carnivals were still cancelled as a result of Pennsylvania’s lockdown rules, which severely damaged many local enemies. State Representative Marci Mustello (R-Penn.) said that “somebody needs to explain why this agreement was allowed or even offered…it’s outrageous to even think this.”
“It’s not fair that eastern PA set up deals when we abide by rules,” said fellow State Representative Aaron Bernstein (R-Penn.), adding that “this is the first I’m hearing of it. It’s despicable.” Even some of Levine’s fellow Democrats criticized the deal, including State Representative Chris Sainato (D-Penn.), who said it “was surprising to me when you told me we’ve been making the sacrifices for five months.”
This is not the first instance of Levine violating statewide orders that he implemented just for his own personal benefit. Earlier this year, it had been reported that after Levine had forced nursing homes across the state to accept coronavirus patients – similar to the disastrous move by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) – he went out of his way to make sure that his 95-year-old mother was moved out of one such nursing home.