Nancy Pelosi said Sunday morning that people protesting lockdowns are a ‘distraction’ from the real threats of coronavirus, claiming she doesn’t understand why they are against stay-at-home orders, which most states have been enforcing for a month now.
‘People will do what they do. But the fact is, we’re all impatient. We all want out. But what they’re doing is really unfortunate,’ the House Speaker told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace.
‘People are taking to the streets, pushing back against some of the more stringent restrictions in some states. Can you understand why they’re doing that?’ Wallace asked Pelosi.
‘No, not, not really,’ she admitted.
‘What we have to do is, is, is shelter in place. That is really the answer,’ Pelosi continued.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Fox News Sunday morning that she doesn’t understand those protesting coronavirus lockdowns, claiming ‘we all want out’
Protest broke out across the country this last week of crowds demanding an end to lockdown and stay-at-home orders and for their states to reopen
In a separate interview with ABC News that aired Sunday morning Pelosi also tried to play down the demonstrations
‘I wouldn’t over exaggerate the protests across the country,’ she said. ‘But I think of it largely as a distraction – and the president’s embrace of it as a distraction from the fact that he has not appropriately done testing, treatment, contact tracing and quarantine’
Democrats claim the country should not be reopened until the outbreak has seen a sharp decline in new cases and deaths. As of Sunday morning, the death toll in the U.S. nears 40,000
She also told ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning that the demonstrations are exaggerated in the media and a distraction from the fact that there needs to be more testing.
Protests broke out in several states this last week, with people claiming the government was overreaching by issuing orders that they remain in their homes except for essential reasons like grocery shopping and going to the doctor.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam claimed ‘this is not the time for protests.’
‘Our president has been unable to deliver on tests, now he has chosen to focus on protests,’ Northam told CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning. ‘And this is not the time for protests, and this is not the time for divisiveness.’
‘This is time for leadership that will stand up and provide empathy,’ the Democratic governor continued. ‘It’s the time for truth.’
Maryland’s governor Larry Hogan, who serves as the chair of the National Governors Association, agreed.
The Democrat claimed his state is ‘not at the point yet’ where it can reopen its economy.
‘My goal is to try to get us open as quickly as we possibly can, but in a safe way,’ Hogan told CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday morning.
‘The president’s own guidelines say that you should have 14 days of declining numbers before you start to consider phase one of a reopening and we have increasing numbers every day in the Washington region,’ he continued.
‘We’re not at a point yet where we can, but we have a very detailed reopening plan,’ the governor said.
Pelosi claimed protests aren’t as big of a deal as they appear.
‘I wouldn’t over exaggerate the protests across the country. There are some in some places, largely where there is a Democratic governor,’ Pelosi told ABC’s George Stephenapoulos.
‘But I think of it largely as a distraction – and the president’s embrace of it as a distraction from the fact that he has not appropriately done testing, treatment, contact tracing and quarantine,’ she continued.
Thousands of people across the country descended on their respective states’ capitals demanding governors reopen the economy and lift lockdown orders.
While Donald Trump supports reopening the country as soon as possible – and has even proposed states end lockdowns as soon as May 1, Pelosi and other Democrats want the lockdowns to continue to make sure coronavirus threats are under control.
Protests broke out in several states with both Republican and Democrat governors
They claim businesses should be allowed to reopen as more than 22 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the last four weekly filing periods
Trump has even thrown his support behind demonstrators, tweeting on Friday ‘LIBERATE MICHIGAN!’
He also made a call to ‘LIBERATE VIRGINIA,’ asserting they ‘save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!’
‘They seem to be very responsible people to me,’ the president said during a White House press briefing of the protesters. ‘They’ve been treated a little bit rough.’
The president’s claims come as his own administration’s task force has recommended social distancing guidelines and issued stay-at-home orders.
Protesters have popped up in several states, including Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Texas, Utah and several others.
Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, has become a target of Trump’s as she was floated as being on the short list for former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate.