A small-town Kentucky mayor did not hold back when posting on a county neighborhood Facebook group, telling followers that the coronavirus is a ‘serious ordeal’ and criticizing those who are not taking the pandemic seriously.
Walton in Boone County, Kentucky is a town of just 3,600 people, but Mayor Gabe Brown gained far more fans than that when he posted his strongly-worded rant to the wider county community Facebook page, which gained national attention.
The post has been shared by more than 2,300 people, and a single tweet showing images from his Facebook post got 1,100 likes alone.
Mayor Gabe Brown of Walton, Kentucky posted a strongly worded Facebook post urging people to take the coronavirus and social distancing seriously
Mayor Brown is known by his supporters as being quite a character. He was elected unopposed in November 2018
‘Listen up dipsh*ts and sensible people,’ he wrote, clearly frustrated by the county’s apathy towards the coronavirus outbreak. ‘I might not have the best bedside manor. I might not put you at ease like the Governor does, but I don’t care.
‘You need to realize that this is a serious ordeal. In fact, it’s a big f**cking deal. Stay at home.’
In his post, he explained that he is taking at least three calls a day about Covid-19, and therefore has more information than many of the county’s residents do about the virus.
The post has been shared on Facebook more than 2,300 times and many times on Twitter
He told followers to take the virus more seriously than they have been, and act like they have it in order to not spread it to others.
Warning of the consequences if they don’t heed his advice, the Mayor wrote: ‘More cases are coming. If you ignore this problem, the worst thing that could happen is that your mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles could die.’
Reacting to his post in Twitter, one user wrote: ‘Love this! Go Mayor Gabe Brown!’, while another wrote ‘I think we have a new “America’s Mayor.”‘
Another commented that they liked how he signed of his message, tweeting: ‘I really like “warmest regards” at the end.’
People on Twitter react to the Mayor’s Facebook post, cheering him on
His town of Walton lies across both Boone county and Kenton County in Kentucky. Kenton County has been one of the areas hit heaviest in the state with eleven confirmed cases, according to the Northern Kentucky Health Department.
Walton is a small town in Boone Country, Kentucky with just over 3,600 residents
Boone County’s Governor, Andy Beshear, has also gained praise during the crisis for his calm and measured daily news briefings on the coronavirus
In contrast to the language used by Mayor Brown, Boone County’s Governor Andy Beshear has also been praised for his measured and direct deliveries of daily news conferences about Covid-19.
Some residents outside the county have even offered to trade to get him as their own governor.
Governor Beshear was particularly outspoken about a group of young adults holding a ‘coronavirus party’ to defy the county’s directive to socially distance in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.
Reportedly one party goer now has the coronavirus, much to the Governor’s despair. ‘This is one that makes me mad,’ the governor said during a press briefing. ‘We have to be much better than that.’
As of 26 March, CNN’s state-by-state coronavirus case tracker puts Kentucky down as having 198 total cases so far, with five deaths.
According to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker, the US has had a total of 69,197 confirmed cases, with 1,050 deaths.