Politicians caught breaking the coronavirus restrictions they are imposing should resign, Fox News contributor Mike Huckabee said Monday.
"These people don't believe in a lockdown. They don't believe that social distancing and wearing a mask works, because if it did, they would be doing it," he said on "America's Newsroom." "Instead they want to impose these restrictions on other people. Personally, I do believe we ought to be wearing masks and social distancing ... because it's the right thing to do. These folks who are ordering it but not doing it, they should resign."
Democratic mayors and governors across the country have been caught flouting their own rules against public dining, social distancing and traveling, drawing widespread outrage. In recent glaring examples, Austin, Texas, Mayor Steve Adler was caught vacationing in Mexico while telling residents to stay home, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom and San Francisco Mayor London Breed both dined at the upscale San Francisco restaurant The French Laundry after encouraging people to avoid gatherings. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock also visited family in Mississippi after advising Coloradans to hold "virtual gatherings."
No, Huckabee said, apologizing was not good enough for the hypocritical behavior that has even drawn criticism from liberal media members.
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Reacting to the recent shutdown orders across California, the country's largest state, Huckabee said it was more about "controlling the population" than the virus. The former Arkansas governor encouraged officials to be consistent and "listen to the science," which has shown outdoor dining, for instance, is not tied to the spread of coronavirus.
"It's about people exhibiting their power and being power crazy," he said. "The sad thing is a lot of people are just going along with it. In California, churches were told they couldn't have more than 10 people in the church. Now you can go to a strip club."
Huckabee said citizens could be trusted to use their own judgment on protecting their health but urged officeholders to set a reliable standard.
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"There has to be consistency," he said. "The fact that there isn't is causing people to become cynical. That's a real public health risk when we get cynical and we don't believe anything our government officials tell us."