Rachel Maddow Slams GOP Governors For Turning Their States Into Ticking Coronavirus Time Bombs

A handful of states run by Republican governors still haven’t issued stay-at-home orders as the coronavirus outbreak worsens across the country, with more than 367,000 cases and nearly 11,000 deaths nationwide.

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On her program on Monday night, Rachel Maddow tore into these governors, saying they are singlehandedly turning their states into ticking coronavirus time bombs.

“That is allowing the virus to spread unchecked in those states,” the MSNBC host said. “That will ultimately grow the number of people who have tested positive, the number of people who get sick, the number of people who need to get hospitalized … and the number of people who die.”

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Maddow said:

We’re also watching the long-term, where governors still even now, in some states are refusing to take statewide action, which allows the unchecked growth of their state’s eventual case numbers, right? States that do not have stay-at-home orders, where people are not being broadly told to stay home, and so people broadly aren’t. That is allowing the virus to spread unchecked in those states. That will ultimately grow the number of people who have tested positive, the number of people who get sick, the number of people who need to get hospitalized, the number of people who need intensive care, the number of people who need ventilators, and the number of people who die. The more you let it spread, the more all of those numbers will rise and those case numbers and all of the attendant consequences will go up, the longer you have people going to work and having gatherings and doing their usual communal stuff day after day after day while this highly infectious virus circulates in every single state because we’ve got it in every single state. Nevertheless there are still governors that don’t have stay-at-home orders and are defending their decision not to and are defying all advice, and they’re just letting their case numbers, what will eventually be their case numbers balloon and balloon and balloon with each passing day. And so in the long term, we will reap the reward of that as well.

The lack of action in GOP-led states won’t be felt for weeks

Some Republican governors, like Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, have come out with swift action to slow the spread of this virus. This proactiveness has shown to be effective in flattening the curve.

In other Republican states, though, governors have refused to take this deadly threat seriously, allowing the virus to spread unchecked and putting their people at risk.

So while there is some light starting to emerge at the end of tunnel, specifically in New York and Louisiana, two states that have Democratic governors, the lack of bold action in some GOP-led states has likely created a ticking time bomb that will erupt down the road.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.