Actor Patton Oswalt has sneered at coronavirus anti-lockdown protesters in a snarky viral tweet
Actor Patton Oswalt has mocked coronavirus anti-lockdown protesters in a snarky tweet after Americans stormed state capital buildings across the country to demand their stay-at-home orders be lifted.
The King of Queens star tweeted on Saturday: ‘Anne Frank spent 2 years hiding in an attic and we’ve been home for just over a month with Netflix, food delivery & video games and there are people risking viral death by storming state capital buildings & screaming, ”Open Fuddruckers!”.’
The tweet quickly went viral as photos emerged of frustrated protesters gathering in the state capitals of Texas, Indiana, New Hampshire, Maryland and elsewhere, demanding relaxation of the stay-at-home orders that have left millions jobless.
President Trump had added fuel to the anti-lockdown protests on Friday by voicing his support to ‘liberate’ states on Twitter.
The coronavirus pandemic has left the United States with record unemployment numbers and thousands of small businesses facing ruin, as America’s death toll climbed to 39,300 as of Sunday morning with 742,000 confirmed cases of the deadly virus.
The King of Queens star tweeted on Saturday: ‘Anne Frank spent 2 years hiding in an attic and we’ve been home for just over a month with Netflix, food delivery & video games and there are people risking viral death by storming state capital buildings & screaming, ”Open Fuddruckers!”
The tweet quickly went viral as photos emerged of frustrated protesters gathering in the state capitals of Texas, Indiana, New Hampshire, Maryland and elsewhere, demanding relaxation of the stay-at-home orders that have left millions jobless. Pictured: Hundreds gathering at Reopen NH rally in front of New Hampshire State House
The coronavirus pandemic has left the United States with record unemployment numbers and thousands of small businesses facing ruin, as America’s death toll climbed to 39,300 as of Sunday morning with 742,000 confirmed cases of the deadly virus. Pictured: Hundreds of Texans gathering in Austin
President Trump had added fuel to the anti-lockdown protests on Friday by voicing his support to ‘liberate’ states on Twitter. Pictured: Supporters of the group ‘Reopen Maryland’ wave to vehicles filling Church Circle to protest the state’s on-going stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in Annapolis, Maryland
Reactions to Oswalt’s tweet were mixed.
Chloe Valdary responded: ‘You fail to consider that folks are freaking out because they feel their entire lives are about to go under.’
Andrew Burns wrote: ‘This is extremely elitist, many of these people are out of work and on their last leg. Yes, if you are part of the lucky few who are able to work from home or have jobs that are essential it seems this easy. Millions of Americans are struggling right now… come on Patton!’
Another said: ‘That’s the most ridiculous apples vs oranges analogy I’ve ever heard.’
Podcast host Joey Saladino shot back: ‘Not everyone can afford Netflix, food delivery & video games due to the economic shutdown….’
One added: ‘Anne Frank faced a much more credible threat. Our greatest threat here is the one against our Constitutional rights.’
Bridget Phetasy said: ‘Let them eat kale! laughed the rich comedian.’
Bob Noss said: ‘Wealthy celebs who can afford to take months — if not years — off from “work” should not be chiding those whose livelihood is being strangled to death by forced isolation.’
Another said: ‘People can’t pay their rent but yeah Anne Frank or whatever.’
But some sided with Oswalt, with one writing: ‘Thank you very much for this tweet! I am appalled how quickly people would sacrifice half of the population just to get to their favorite shopping mall again… I am so disappointed in mankind.’
On Saturday, President Trump once again put himself at the center of the debate on whether states should ease stay-at-home orders, after he was forced to admit governors had the power to decide when to restart their state’s economy.
He suggested he believed some governors had taken shutdown orders too far, saying ‘some of them are being unreasonable’.
On Saturday, President Trump put himself at the center of the debate again on whether states should ease stay-at-home orders, after he was forced to admit governors had the power to decide when to restart their state’s economy. He suggested he believed some governors had taken shutdown orders too far, saying ‘some of them are being unreasonable’
Over the past few days, thousands turned up in droves to their state capitals to push easing stay-at-home orders. Pictured: Protesters in Concord, New Hampshire
Protestors in Austin, Texas, screamed ‘fire Fauci’ in a targeted chant against Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top immunologist and infectious disease expert
Members of the Boogaloo Movement attend a demonstration against the lockdown Saturday in New Hampshire
Trump added: ‘There are a lot of protests out there, and I just think that some of the governors have gotten carried away.’
He singled out Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, saying ‘she has things, ”don’t buy paint, don’t buy roses” — I mean she’s got all of these crazy things.’
‘Somebody sitting in their boat on a lake should be okay. They shouldn’t arrest people,’ Trump added, referring to Michigan’s stay-at-home order which prohibits jet skis, motorboats or other comparable watercraft but allows for canoes, sailboats and kayaks.
In a tweet, Whitmer fired back, saying: ‘Right now, despite having the 10th largest population, we have the 3rd highest COVID-19 deaths in the nation. I’m using every tool at my disposal to save lives, and it’s working. The curve is flattening.’
‘Remember: COVID-19 is the enemy, not each other,’ she added.
Over the past few days, thousands turned up in droves to their state capitals to push easing stay-at-home orders.
Several hundred people rallied in Texas’ capital of Austin on Saturday, chanting ‘Let us work!’ Many clamored for an immediate lifting of restrictions in a state where more than 1 million have filed for unemployment since the crisis began.
An image made with a drone shows the vehicles of supporters of the group ‘Reopen Maryland’ filing into Church Circle to protest the state’s on-going stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in Annapolis on Saturday
‘Our goal is to lift up our voices so that the governor will lift his unconstitutional restrictions because his cure is worse than the disease,’ organizers of the Indiana protest said in a statement
The rally was organized by a host of Infowars, owned by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who joined protesters on the Capitol steps after rolling up in a tank-like truck.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has said that non-essential business that can operate curb-side service will be allowed to re-open on Friday – but the protesters are demanding faster and broader action.
Other protests took place across the country on Saturday. In Indianapolis, more than 200 people stood close together outside the governor’s mansion, carrying American flags and signs demanding that Governor Eric Holcomb, a Republican, lift restrictions.
‘Our goal is to lift up our voices so that the governor will lift his unconstitutional restrictions because his cure is worse than the disease,’ organizers of the Indiana protest said in a statement. ‘The government cure has done more harm than the disease!’
Indiana’s state health department reported 529 new coronavirus cases between April 7 and midday Friday, raising the total to more than 10,600. The number of deaths rose by 26, to 545.
Demonstrators outside Maryland’s colonial-era statehouse in Annapolis stayed in their cars but waved signs with messages like ‘Poverty kills too.’
More than 200 cars circled the statehouse, honking horns and waving banners and American flags.
A truck emblazoned with support for Donald Trump drives through downtown during a demonstration against the government lockdown in New Hampshire on Saturday
Protesters gather outside the Indiana Governor’s mansion in Indianapolis, Saturday, urging Gov. Eric Holcomb to back off restrictions on Indiana residents because of the coronavirus, and restart the economy
Dolores, a hairdresser in Maryland, said she is not eligible for unemployment because she is a business owner, not an employee.
‘I need to save my business. I need to work to live. Otherwise I will die,’ she said.
And in Concord, New Hampshire, roughly 400 people gathered in the cold rain to send a message that extended quarantines were not necessary.
The crowd included several armed men wearing military-style uniforms, with their faces covered.
‘Even if the virus were 10 times as dangerous as it is, I still wouldn´t stay inside my home. I´d rather take the risk and be a free person,’ said one of the New Hampshire protesters, talk show host Ian Freeman.
Trump is pushing to relax the U.S. lockdown by May 1, a plan that hinges partly on more testing.
However, the United States still doesn’t have adequate testing, despite Trump declaring the crisis a national emergency more than a month ago.
Still, Trump praised the country’s testing, boasting that more than four million tests had been conducted nationwide, which is the equivalent of about 1.2 percent of the U.S. population.