Several governors and other elected officials across the country who previously implemented strict lockdown measures have flip-flopped once again, and some now support reopening their various states, as reported by the Daily Caller.
One of the most glaring examples is New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.), whose lockdown measures caused a crash in the state’s economy, and forced many residents – especially in New York City – to flee the state altogether. After months of justifying such measures, Cuomo tweeted on January 11th that “we simply cannot stay closed until the vaccine hits critical mass,” saying that “the cost is too high” and “we will have nothing left to open.”
In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) has similarly reversed course and recently expressed support for reopening schools, labeling schools as “essential.” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D-Ill.) recently said that she now supports reopening restaurants and bars “as soon as possible.” And Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D-D.C.) said that indoor dining would be allowed to resume in the nation’s capital on Friday, January 22nd.
The reversal seems to further confirm the widely-suggested notion that many of the lockdowns in question were purely political moves, implemented by Democratic politicians to deliberately harm the U.S. economy so that President Donald Trump’s chances of re-election would be damaged.
President Trump remained a longtime advocate for re-opening the economy early into the pandemic, saying that “the cure cannot be worse than the disease,” pointing out that the long-term negative effects of such lockdowns created just as much of a crisis as the coronavirus itself.