Yet another Republican has come forward saying that reopening the economy is more important to him than saving lives.
Remember this guy?
This time, it's Congressman Trey Hollingsworth (R-Ind.)
During an interview on WIBC radio, Hollingsworth said that keeping social distancing measures in place would "insult the Americans that voted us into office."
The congressman acknowledged that both "solutions" to our current crisis would have negative side effects: reopening too early will kill people but reopening too late could needlessly harm the economy. Hollingsworth said that in his mind, one of these is clearly more important.
"[I]t is always the American government's position to say, in the choice between the loss of our way of life as Americans and the loss of life of American lives, we have to always choose the latter."
Hollingsworth acknowledged that many people who might have been saved could die if we reopen too early, but said that was surely preferable to the GDP shrinking by 20%.
"It is policymakers' decision to put on our big boy and big girl pants and say it is the lesser of these two evils. It is not zero evil, but it is the lesser of these two evils and we intend to move forward that direction. That is our responsibility and to abdicate that is to insult the Americans that voted us into office."
It's worth noting that Hollingsworth is the 12th wealthiest member of Congress, with a net worth of around $50 million.
Who knows how keeping our communities safe might be affecting his bank account?
Hollingsworth joins a group of prominent Republicans who have taken up the extremist rallying cry that the "economy" is more important that human life.
On his radio show, Glenn Beck said:
"I would rather have my children stay home and all of us who are over 50 go in and keep this economy going and working. Even if we all get sick, I'd rather die than kill the country."
HBO host John Oliver described this line of thinking as the beginnings of a "death cult."
"You can't volunteer yourself as tribute. And what you're doing is actually much darker: You are actively volunteering others, including people of all ages with health conditions, to die."
Many researchers and scientists have also pointed out that a soaring U.S. death rate and overwhelmed hospitals would both be very bad for the economy, whether our restaurants and public spaces are open or not.
The internet banded together quickly to tell Hollingsworth he was out of his mind.
Hopefully, this upcoming November, voters let Congressman Hollingsworth know how they feel about how he asked many to die.
