GA Gov. Kemp spars with Atlanta mayor over mask mandate
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp discusses his fight with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over her mask mandate
Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said on Tuesday that he is “putting Georgians first” by suing the city of Atlanta to block its mandate to wear a mask in public and other rules related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have local mayors that start going either above or beyond the executive orders I have put in place and try to pull back on our economy and start shutting our economy and shutting businesses down with really a knee-jerk reaction,” Kemp told “Fox & Friends.”
In the court filing, Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr argue that the city's leadership is illegally circumventing state executive orders with their own edicts.
They say Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has overstepped her authority and under state law she must obey the governor's executive orders.
Kemp "seeks to have this Court make a declaration that Mayor Bottoms' executive orders are more restrictive and contradictory to his executive orders, and therefore, Mayor Bottoms' COVID-related executive orders are suspended," the lawsuit states.
Bottoms had announced on July 10 that Atlanta would go back to Phase 1 status as coronavirus cases surged, arguing the state had been "recklessly" reopened too soon. The move threatened to shutter restaurants' dining rooms and non-essential city facilities.
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“This lawsuit is on behalf of the Atlanta business owners and their hardworking employees who are struggling to survive during these difficult times,” Kemp said in a statement. “These men and women are doing their very best to put food on the table for their families while local elected officials shutter businesses and undermine economic growth.”
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Kemp said he has been encouraging Georgians to wear a mask and ordered “millions of masks” that have been deployed to local governments and schools.
“They worked for us before and they will work again,” Kemp said Tuesday on "Fox & Friends."
“In fact, two weeks ago, Surgeon General Jerome Adams was in Georgia," he said. "We did a statewide fly-around raising awareness about the importance of wearing a mask. You know, we can argue whether you need a mandate or not, but we all know you should do that if you can’t socially distance yourself.”
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