Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is weighing in on President Donald Trump’s call to restart the U.S. economy by the upcoming Easter holiday.
On Tuesday night, following the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing, Booker spoke with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes for an interview.
Hayes — who referred to Trump’s latest change in momentum as a drumbeat — offered an overview of the president’s call to restart the economy and reopen the country by Easter.
He went on to ask Booker his opinion of the calls for economic acceleration. To the New Jersey lawmaker, Trump’s behavior comes across as a “drumbeat of one” and “wildly irresponsible.”
“That’s a drumbeat of one,” Booker said, adding, “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’s coming.”
He continued, “And we know when we rely on data and science, not a president who seems to ignore both of those things. We know that the worst is yet to come in terms of the medical crisis we have and in terms of the economic crisis.”
See the full clip of Booker’s remarks:
Booker’s remarks follow Trump’s highly publicized call to reopen the country despite the continued surge in coronavirus cases.
As of Wednesday morning, there are more than 55,000 positive cases. In the hard-hit state of New York, the number of cases has doubled in a matter of days.
With a shortage of medical supplies, ventilators, hospital beds, and even swabs for coronavirus test kits, multiple governors have expressed concerns about their capacity to properly treat the influx of patients expected to pour into hospitals in the coming weeks.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) recently offered a detailed breakdown of the shortages he is facing. In addition to the war against the coronavirus, Cuomo is also fighting another battle — time.
While multiple companies are interested in producing ventilators, Cuomo argues that ventilators are needed over the course of the next 14 days.
Check out Cuomo’s statement below:
Trump has faced opposition on multiple sides. In fact, the president’s Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams has also projected this week “it’s going to get bad.”
While Trump has a desire to restart the economy soon, it is still unclear whether or not that will be feasible.
