Sen. Angus King Wednesday said the mixed messages coming from the White House are disappointing, and he's concerned that the president's administration is focusing more on the stock market and economy than the coronavirus itself.
“I have not been very happy because of the mixed messages coming from the White House," the Maine Independent told CNN's "New Day." "'It’s going to go away,’ ‘We’re only going to have 15 cases,’ ‘It’s not a big deal.’"
"It is a big deal,” King stressed, and he thinks the administration's reaction has created a "fundamental" problem, and he's concerned that not enough is being done to limit physical contact to help combat the speed at which coronavirus infections are growing.
"If we don't contain it in a limited way by limiting that kind of contact, we're going to end up like Italy, with the, you know, whole country in lockdown," he warned. "Again, the best way to deal with this and deal with the effects on the economy is to beat the economy and do it promptly, but it's not going to happen by (doing) business as usual."
Meanwhile, King said he does not think President Donald Trump's call for a payroll tax cut to alleviate Americans' economic suffering during the epidemic is a good call.
"I think we should be more focused on people whose livelihoods and ability to pay their rent is being affected by this," said King. "Something like emergency family leave, because millions of Americans don't have any family leave. If they have to go home for two weeks, they lose two weeks of pay."
A holiday on the payroll tax, he added, will not help with individual situations like child care, but "it's going to help people who really aren't at dangerous risk."
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