NEC Director Kudlow on push to reopen state economies: 'You've got to meet the guidelines'

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Larry Kudlow discusses expectations for US economy, supports liability safeguard for businesses

Larry Kudlow, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, joins Laura Ingraham on 'The Ingraham Angle.'

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National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow joined "The Ingraham Angle" Friday to discuss expectations for the economy and the possible creation of liability safeguards for businesses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

"You've got to meet the guidelines and you've got good scientific, good base guidelines. You've got to have your downward adjustment in infection cases within a 14-day period. You got to observe it." Kudlow said of states thinking about reopening. " ... You've got to have the testing. You've got to have the cleaning. You've got to have the hand-washing and all the rest of it. You've got to have the distancing."

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Kudlow reiterated his earlier statement that if states meet the criteria laid out by the White House coronavirus task force, May would be a "transition month" for the economy.

"If you meet those criteria, I think you're going to see a lot of states opening in the next few weeks ..." Kudlow said. "As the economy reawakens, it'll be rolling, you know, [one] phase at a time. Heck, 26 million people in the last five weeks have filed unemployment claims, 16 percent of the whole workforce. We cannot continue that."

"If we are fortunate... the [infection] numbers will keep coming down and people will reopen and we'll get this economy restarted again," Kudlow added.

Host Laura Ingraham also asked Kudlow about a The Washington Post report that a "liability shield" that would protect employers from lawsuits by employees who claim to get infected with the virus on the job.

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"I don't think we should open the door to a lot of false claims by trial lawyers and others who are always on the lookout," Kudlow said. "You'll stop the business from opening or the business will close or they won't have enough money to keep going because of these lawsuits. So why not have some safeguards?

"And by the way," Kudlow added, "I think the business, but also the employees in the business, should be protected [from] these kinds of phony lawsuits."