Booker: Trump’s Irresponsible Rhetoric Backed Up by ‘Weakness’ on Coronavirus

Tuesday on MSNBC’s “All In,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) argued that President Donald Trump’s “irresponsible rhetoric” was backed up by “weakness” with his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hayes asked, “Senator, let me start with this idea of this sort of drumbeat in the last few days of we have to get open, we have to open back up for business, we can’t let the cure be worse than the disease. What do you make of that rhetoric? What do you think about the Easter idea?”

Booker said, “Well, that’s a drumbeat of one, and this president is being wildly irresponsible. What we need from him, what we need from our leadership, is direct candor, is getting people prepared for what is coming. We know when we rely on data and science, not a president that seems to ignore both of those things, we know that the worst is yet to come in terms of the medical crisis that we have and in terms of the economic crisis.”

He added, “This is a crisis that is growing, and what we need is straight talk, candor, and strength. The problem is that his irresponsible rhetoric is being backed up by a weakness, by his inability to use his executive powers like the Defense Production Act that could be moving more resources to areas of critical need like New York, like New Jersey, like Georgia, like Michigan and other places you named. So this is not a time for us to try to candy coat things. Americans deserve the truth. They deserve candor, and they deserve a president, and executives all over our country doing everything possible to make a very bad situation better as we head closer and closer to what will be the cresting of this coronavirus crisis.”

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