Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Thursday that closing down the state’s economy to combat the coronavirus would be “totally and completely beyond reasonableness” and that he would fight any potential lockdowns under a Biden administration.
“We’re not going to participate in a nationwide lockdown,” the Republican governor said during a Facebook Live video. “This notion that one of his advisers has said that all we really need is about a six-week national lockdown and we can slow down the spread of this virus is totally and completely beyond reasonableness.”
Mr. Reeves made the comment after Dr. Michael Osterholm, a coronavirus adviser to presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden, on Wednesday called for a four-to-six-week federal lockdown that he said would help combat the pandemic and keep the economy afloat while the country awaits a vaccine.
Dr. Osterholm later clarified that he had not discussed his proposal with any of Mr. Biden’s team.
“The people of Mississippi can’t just go home, shut down their small businesses, shut down their restaurants, shut down their gyms, shut down other small businesses for six weeks, and just think that you can come back six weeks from now, flip a switch and everything’s gonna be fine,” Mr. Reeves said. “That’s not the way the economy works.
“I don’t believe there is any constitutional or statutory authority for any president to shut down Mississippi’s economy,” the governor said. “We will certainly fight that if it becomes necessary.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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