Many Democrats, led by presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, are pushing a "fantasy" solution to the coronavirus crisis – including more lockdowns that will continue to depress the economy – said Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Monday.
In her "Ingraham Angle" commentary, the host pointed to comments made by Biden to MSNBC's Joy Reid in which he called for established contact-tracing protocols and "making sure that no one has to pay for contracting COVID and/or being treated for COVID too."
"Well, how many of you think that is realistic? No one ever has to pay for anything," Ingraham asked her audience.
"Is he even aware that we've done more testing than any nation on Earth? As of today, we've done 48.6 million COVID tests in the United States. There is no indication at all that Biden could do any more any faster, at least we haven't seen any evidence of that. So that is all bunk. What is left? Rolling shutdowns or a complete national shutdown until the virus magically disappears."
She said that, thanks in part to the mainstream media, it is difficult to have an "adult conversation" about virus mitigation because some in the press become overly animated when an area sees an uptick in coronavirus cases.
"The press screams 'It's all Trump's fault. You see, we opened up too fast!' — I'm here to tell you it is childish and stupid. [That is the] same with promising that lockdowns won't cost our country dearly or pretending we can keep borrowing and printing money to cover all nonessential salaries until the pandemic is gone — that is called mailbox money. Try hiring someone in a restaurant today," she said, calling for people to consider the "trade-offs" of each policy decision.
Ingraham said that while it is proper for physicians and experts to offer the public advice on the medical side of things, a president must take all situational factors into consideration.
"Our elderly are now suffering alone. Our children are suffering by staying at home. Parents are worried about how they can possibly manage it all. And employers are beginning to do the math and the numbers are ugly. And of course, Americans -- mostly the elderly -- who are compromised, are still tragically succumbing to the virus. But here, as we have shown you, that deaths have been steadily declining since their peak in March," she said.
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"Trump's approach has been wise. He couldn't lose the entire U.S. economy by mandating a lockdown of 330 million Americans. That would have been ridiculous [and] abusive."
However, she added, Democrats continue to offer "free lockdowns" and an apparent "exemption" to strict enforcement of gubernatorial lockdown orders to factions of the public whose political ideology or agenda lines up with theirs — pointing to left-wing protesters.
"Now, you can see why that offer kind of would have been appealing to folks who don't realize lockdowns actually carry an enormous cost that can't be made up with new welfare programs — I'm talking human costs: more lives, other illnesses not attended to," she said.
"In reality, we need a serious and a balanced approach to lower the harm caused by the virus while doing the best we can to protect the economy, our families, our kids, and our small businesses."