Rachel Maddow Busts MAGA Myth That Americans Are Willing To Risk Their Lives For The Economy

During her program on Tuesday, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow busted the MAGA myth that the American people are itching to have the economy reopened, even if that means putting their lives at risk.

Read: Samuel Alito Is The Insurrectionist Threat To Democracy On The Supreme Court

“The polling of the American public doesn’t suggest that that’s what people believe at all, even if that’s how the media is portraying it,” the MSNBC host said.

She added, “Don’t take it from the polling. Don’t take it from me. Front line health workers across the country are telling this story very, very well themselves about this not being something that is just on the coasts and this being something that we need to take seriously.”

Video:

Maddow said:

I feel like we’re in this moment, in terms of media coverage of this crisis, where you’d think that everyone off the coasts is not only fine, they’re all champing at the bit to wind down efforts to combat the coronavirus and to keep people from getting sick. I feel like if you just look at American media right now, you might have that impression. The polling of the American public doesn’t suggest that that’s what people believe at all, even if that’s how the media is portraying it. Americans by huge proportions recognize that what we’re doing right now to slow down the spread of the virus is necessary and prefer that we don’t dump those policies too soon and thereby endanger ourselves and put ourselves in even worse shape than we are now. But, you know, don’t take it from the polling. Don’t take it from me. Front line health workers across the country are telling this story very, very well themselves about this not being something that is just on the coasts and this being something that we need to take seriously. Whether it’s the nurses and health workers in their masks standing silently in front of the fringe traveling Trump rally we don’t believe in coronavirus protesters that we’ve seen in a few states, or whether it’s them taking time in the middle of this crisis, in the middle of their work days, to just tell us what it is that they are dealing with.

The traveling Trump circus may be loud, but they are not the majority

Many Americans are seeing what’s happening at state capitals around the country and feeling anywhere from enraged to depressed.

After all, watching Trump supporters storm government buildings with Confederate flags and assault rifles – all while pretending to care about civil liberties – isn’t exactly a feel-good moment in American history.

But it’s more important now than it ever has been to understand that this traveling Trump circus may be loud, but they are not the majority. They weren’t in 2016 when more Americans voted for Hillary Clinton, and they won’t be in 2020.

The vast majority of folks want medical experts and front line health professionals – not hate-spewing Trump supporters – to call the shots on when it’s safe to reopen the economy.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter

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.