Hard-liners are embracing the protests against stay-at-home orders, with some hoping to spark a sequel to the tea party.
Rep. Andy Harris is fed up with being locked down.
“They promised 2 million dead at the beginning of this,” Harris fumed to constituents during a recent teletown hall, later adding, “The media has a vested interest in making things sound worse so that you tune in the next day.”
The conservative Maryland Republican also joined a “reopen America” protest, where he delivered a fiery speech to a crowd of demonstrators without wearing a mask, and ripped into the restrictions at a congressional hearing last week, during which he lamented that “we’re safer from death if we’re not born.”
And Harris — an anesthesiologist who served as a medical officer in the Naval Reserve — is not alone. A growing list of House hard-liners say they have reached their breaking point with the stay-at-home orders, which flipped a switch on the once-booming economy in a bid to limit the spread of coronavirus.
In recent weeks, Republicans have been angrily lashing out at the media, local and state officials and House Democratic leadership over the continued shutdown — and are now actively encouraging the fired-up protesters swarming state capitols across the country.
“It’s ludicrous, it’s arbitrary and it’s absolutely unnecessary,” said Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), whose state has been one of the earliest to lift coronavirus restrictions. “In some cases, there’s no evidence whatsoever that they eliminate the spread of Covid-19. It’s just abusive, dictatorial, tyrannical-type leadership.”
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, is also cheering on the protests.
“It’s organic, it’s nonpartisan, and it’s basically an effort to send a message to government,” he said. “It’s clear people across all spectrums are feeling the pain of these government actions.”
The push among GOP lawmakers to end isolation orders comes as activist groups look to mobilize the conservative grassroots just as they fueled the tea party movement a decade ago. The move is intended not only to give the economy a boost but also potentially build momentum on the right ahead of the November elections.
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Republican hard-liners are embracing the protests against stay-at-home orders, with some hoping to spark a sequel to the tea party https://t.co/AZBkuONt7u
— POLITICO (@politico) May 11, 2020
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