Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker blamed the Trump administration’s “delays” in combatting coronavirus for the states — including his — that have implemented quarantines.
Pritzker, whose statewide “stay at home” directive went into effect Saturday at 5 p.m. local time, spoke Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper about both the state and the federal responses to the coronavirus outbreak. (RELATED: Illinois Democrat Apologizes After Weekend Fundraiser Includes Mock Assassination Of Trump)
WATCH:
Tapper began the segment by asking Pritzker what kind of economic response he would like to see from the federal government, saying, “One of the last sticking points is whether to spend more sending checks directly to members of the public or to put that money into state unemployment programs for the states to distribute. What would you like?”
Pritzker immediately turned on the Trump administration, suggesting that if the federal government response had been adequate, the economic impact of coronavirus could have been blunted and state-by-state quarantines might have been avoided.
“Well, look, we’re going to have to do a lot,” Pritzker explained. “There’s no doubt that the economy is being significantly harmed by the delays that the federal government, you know, had during January and February, getting going dealing with this. That’s why we’ve all had to go on stay-at-home orders or keeping kids at home, closing bars and restaurants and so on.”