Sen John Kennedy on Tuesday said the looming decision for states on whether to roll back stay-at-home orders and reopen businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic is like choosing between two potentially fatal health maladies.
“We’re faced with choosing between cancer and a heart attack. We’ve got to save lives; we’ve got to save livelihoods,” the Louisiana Republican said on Fox Business Network. “It’s a miserable choice.”
“But this much I do know: We cannot leave this economy shut down, or it’s going to collapse,” he said. “The Federal Reserve is holding it together with spit and duct tape and if the American economy collapses, the world economy collapses.”
He said some of the “preening elite” will accuse him of not caring about human life.
“Yeah, I care about human life — you can die from poverty, too,” he said. “I care about saving lives and livelihoods, and I think that’s the way most Americans feel,” Mr. Kennedy said.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has signaled that the state could be ready to reopen parts of its economy by next month.
Louisiana has been one of the hardest-hit U.S. states during the pandemic, with more than 24,000 positive coronavirus cases and more than 1,300 coronavirus-related deaths among a population of about 4.6 million people.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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