Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson held a disinformation hearing on Tuesday in which he downplayed COVID-19, touted unproven treatments and even compared the virus to the regular flu.
“Is it that much worse (than the flu)?” the Wisconsin Republican asked, with a straight face, during his sham Senate hearing.
During his program on Tuesday night, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes blasted Sen. Johnson’s comments and pointed out that in the span of the Wisconsin Republican’s short hearing, more than 100 Americans died of COVID-19.
“It’s the deadliest year in American history,” Hayes said. “130 Americans died in just the 90 minutes of disinformation that Ron Johnson hosted on the hill today.”
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Video:
Chris Hayes blasts @RonJohnsonWI for comparing COVID to the flu and spewing disinformation during a Senate hearing on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/PNGyYdImE9
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) December 9, 2020
Hayes said:
Is it that much worse than the flu? In a bad flu year we lose 60,000 people. We’re knocking on the door of 300,000. So, yeah, it’s the deadliest year in American history. More than 2,200 Americans are dying of the virus every day. 130 Americans died in just the 90 minutes of disinformation that Ron Johnson hosted on the hill today. But that’s the thing. All those people I listed – Kelly ward, Ken Paxton, Ron Johnson, Roy Blunt, Mitch McConnell – none of them are Donald Trump. Donald Trump is not the issue. Everyone wants to pretend that it’s Donald Trump. Donald Trump’s the problem, he’s intimidating these people. That’s a misunderstanding. The issue, the problem is not going to go away when he does, and also he’s not going to go away because he’s Donald Trump.
Ron Johnson is up for reelection in 2022
As Chris Hayes said on Tuesday night, America’s troubles won’t vanish overnight once Donald Trump leaves office next month.
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson’s performance on Tuesday is a reminder that the threat posed to America by the Republican Party will outlive Trump’s presidency.
It won’t truly end until all of the GOP leaders who have spent the past four years imitating and enabling Donald Trump are voted out of office.
With Sen. Ron Johnson up for reelection in 2022, Wisconsin voters have a chance to do just that.
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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.
