Attorney General Bill Barr called for “draconian” coronavirus restrictions to be lifted at the end of the month, saying Americans need to be allowed to adapt to their new reality.
“We have to be very careful to make sure this, that the draconian measures that are being adopted are fully justified, and there are not alternative ways of protecting people,” Barr told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Thursday.
The attorney general added that he’s not comfortable with telling Americans to “hide under their bed,” and trusts them to adhere to social distancing guidelines on their own. (RELATED: FLASHBACK: Jan. 21: Fauci Says Coronavirus ‘Not A Major Threat’ To U.S.)
“When this period of time at the end of April expires, I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have, and not just tell people to go home and hide under the bed,” Barr said.
Here’s AG Bill Barr telling Laura Ingraham that at end of April he thinks the current “draconian measures” should be re-evaluated because we should “allow people to adapt more than we have, and not just tell people to go home and hide under their bed” pic.twitter.com/unQh6xXbdM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 9, 2020
The current social distancing guidelines implemented by the Trump administration are set to expire on April 30. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to reopen the economy as soon as possible, arguing that he can’t allow the cure to become worse than the disease. Nearly 17 million people have filed for unemployment over the past few weeks, more than the entirety of the 2008 great recession.