CNN’s Chris Cuomo returned from his self-quarantine on Monday, after being diagnosed with COVID-19 in April, to deliver an overdose of panic to those Americans anxious to reopen the country after near-two months of being on lockdown.
Beginning his four-minute-long monologue, Cuomo first thanked the many fans and viewers who expressed support during his quarantine before launching into diatribe, utterly excoriating his viewers for even considering the possibility of reopening the country, calling them “fools,” and accusing them of courting death.
“While my own COVID battle is mostly over, I’m worried that so many seem to think it’s mostly over for all of us. And that is just dead wrong,” Cuomo said. “Facts: case numbers climbing pretty much everywhere, 68,000+ deaths now. Two weeks ago, the president said we would have 60,000 deaths. Now, his administration is reportedly privately projecting there are going to be 9/11-like death tolls on a daily basis by early June.”
“And yet, they want to push re-opening,” he continued. “We are deceiving ourselves. You know the virus is still spreading in too many places. … You know testing and tracing capabilities are nowhere near where they need to just get the truth of the risks that we all seem to ready to take.”
Playing devil’s advocate, Cuomo then expressed a modicum of understanding for why people want the country to reopen so badly: economic pain, stress, mental anguish, etc.
“So why are we doing it? … Because the agony of this is legitimate angst. We can’t just say it’s too soon. Why? Because it’s almost too late for too many suffering real economic pain,” he said. “30 million unemployed. Who knows if they will be able to find jobs again. It took us a decade to rebuild fewer jobs than that, literally like 10 million fewer after 2008. But the desperation here is different too, we are talking food lines, not 401(k)s. Dreams dying, not just deferred. Even if you don’t have COVID, this situation is making us sick. Mental health is going to open eyes as never before, and that will be a good thing but it’s coming out a bad price.”
But then, Cuomo shifted from empathizing with suffering Americans to condemning those who want to regain a sense of normalcy.
“Look at these fools. Fools!” Cuomo said as he showed a photo of people relaxing in a park. “I know they want to be out there. Fools! It’s not about you. What about the other people. Look, I’m not gonna castigate you. That’s not my job. I’m not your daddy. But we have to think about this, we are rushing to get back out of want, not just out of need. Beautiful weather just does not make for a beautiful reality. Yes, we are tired of bad news. Yes, the government is not doing things it should be.”
“The relaxing of stay at home orders does not mean COVID isn’t a problem anymore,” he continued. “In fact, the opposite is the truth. Things will get worse, I don’t care how you reopen.”
Finally, Cuomo, who himself allegedly broke his own quarantine to relax with his family at his second home in the Hamptons, finished his admonition by asking people to consider what they stand to lose by reopening the country: clear weather, time with family, relaxation, all of which are things wealthy people like Cuomo get to appreciate out of economic security.
“We know we can’t do nothing forever, but think about what you are so anxious to get back to in terms of normal and what you are going to lose that we’ve gained in this pandemic,” he concluded. “OK, think about it. Be careful what you wish for, the time with family, the time together, the time leading more simply, the time thinking about where to go and where not. The pictures we see in Venice of clearer water and clear skies that they are showing us all over the world. I know we can’t do anything forever, but we can think better.”
"Beautiful weather does not make for a beautiful reality."@ChrisCuomo warns "things will get worse" as governments and citizens relax social distancing measures across the nation. pic.twitter.com/7NrI6iYlOO
— CNN (@CNN) May 5, 2020
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