On Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Velshi,” host Ali Velshi said that one potential issue with President Joe Biden’s push for getting the coronavirus under control so there can be July 4 gatherings is the fact that various “Republican-led states are ending mask mandates and other health restrictions aimed at keeping people safe,” just as some GOP-led states “prematurely ended the mandates and health restrictions” in the spring.
After playing video of Biden raising the prospect for Independence Day gatherings and urging people to keep their guard up against the virus, Velshi stated, “That all sounds amazing and hopeful. But one potential problem with Biden’s plan for us all to stick it out these next few months and finally beat back the virus, in time for July 4 celebrations, is that national unity is a phrase that’s not currently in the Republican Party’s lexicon. A slew of Republican-led states are ending mask mandates and other health restrictions aimed at keeping people safe, prematurely declaring an end to the pandemic, missing only a big ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner as a backdrop. And don’t forget, we have lived through this story before. Last spring, a slew of Republican-led states prematurely ended the mandates and health restrictions, which health and medical officials directly blamed for last year’s early-summer surge in cases and deaths.”
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