'Too soon.' Trump urges Kemp to reverse coronavirus rollback

[CatWoman]

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he told Gov. Brian Kemp he disagreed “very strongly” with his decision to roll back coronavirus restrictions and allow shuttered businesses including nail salons and barber shops to reopen this week.

“I think spas and beauty salons and tattoo parlors and barber shops in phase one…is just too soon,” the president said of Kemp’s decision to allow the businesses shuttered this month to reopen as soon as Friday.

Kemp’s office didn’t immediately comment on the remarks by the president, his close ally.

The governor has characterized his decision to let close-contact businesses shuttered this month reopen as soon as Friday as a “measured approach” even as some public health experts warn that it could trigger a new outbreak of the disease and local leaders push back.

And he defended his strategy on a conference call with Wednesday with U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, one of his top allies, saying that Georgia’s efforts to contain the coronavirus were paying off.

“I know this is a different world. But we have to continue living in it for a few more weeks, or possibly just a few more months,” he said. “There are a lot of people financially hurting, and we’ve got to do our best to help them out.”

The governor also said his office will release guidelines this week to let restaurants resume dine-in service and reopen theaters on Monday. Many metro Atlanta businesses have said they will remain shuttered, though plans are underway in other parts of the state for a wave of openings.

Kemp has come under increasing pressure from mayors and county commissioners, mostly from left-leaning cities and suburban areas, upset that his statewide order barred them from enacting more severe restrictions.

He’s also faced criticism from members of the state coronavirus task force Kemp set up to help guide his response strategy who are upset they were left in the dark by his decision to roll back restrictions.

On the call Wednesday, he said efforts to increase testing would pay dividends and highlighted a partnership with Augusta University to coordinate screening efforts.

https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/too-soon-trump-urges-kemp-reverse-coronavirus-rollback/bUQsnksgvm8vmrTQonrNtK/

[Squinch]

1. Oh, FFS. Idiots on parade.

[gratuitous]

2. And after Kemp rolled over for him and showed Trump his pink belly

That's the thanks Brian gets for kissing up to Trump. Got out over his skis, and didn't get the thrill of victory, but:

[CatWoman]

6. ...

[RT Atlanta]

3. jeez....

donnie t likes to play rough with his submissives

[underpants]

4. Hmmm. Sounds like Kemp got some new info in the last 24 MINUTES

might be more than 24 minutes but you know what I’m referencing

[ecstatic]

5. That tells me that the intelligence/numbers must be absolutely horrifying

for trump to already be kicking kkkemp under the bus after PERSONALLY CALLING HIM LAST NIGHT to praise him.

[orwell]

7. He saw his poll numbers...

...so now he has to woo back the seniors.

The asshole is the ultimate con man...

[msongs]

8. this very scenario was predicted as planned last night on DU - forget who tho nt

[CatWoman]

9. what was the prediction?

[msongs]

10. trump would chastise kemp about the openings, then kemp

would cave and keep things closed. trump would look like the good guy and kemp could claim loyalty and deference to trump and still open things up fairly soon

[CatWoman]

13. ahhhhh

thanks

[crickets]

11. Still have to be symptomatic and referred by a physician to get in line for a test.

There are not enough tests in GA or anywhere, not nearly enough to even think about getting a handle on when to start easing restrictions. It was stupid of Kemp to pretend that his plan to reopen certain close-contact businesses was a good idea.

[Turbineguy]

12. Kemp has a clever plan

kill everybody who might vote for him.

[raccoon]

14. That wasn't the real Trump who said that, it was his more human

Doppelgänger.

[EleanorR]

15. Really? But Dr. Scarf said people can be creative and she wasn't going to prejudge

Guess the bad publicity over Kemp's moronic decision was too much for trump to ignore.

[democrattotheend]

16. Watching Freepers react to this is amusing

At first, some of them saw the article and were convinced the Atlanta Constitution Journal was lying about him saying it. After others pointed out that they heard him say it, some were twisting themselves in a pretzel trying to defend him while others were genuinely pissed at him, saying it would cause other governors to move slowly. Kind of amusing to observe.

[andym]

17. Trump and Kemp are playing Good Cop, Bad Cop

or in this case Bad Cop, Worse cop.