Trump visits Pa. as he pressures state to reopen
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is set to tour a medical supply distributor Thursday in the political battleground state of Pennsylvania as he pressures the state’s Democratic governor to move faster on reopening the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump will tour the Owens and Minor Inc. medical equipment factory in Allentown, where he’s expected to deliver remarks on replenishing the nation’s stockpile of medical personal protective equipment like masks, gloves, and surgical gowns, all of which are distributed by the 137-year-old company.
The trip comes as Trump has encouraged local protesters and some state Republicans who have threatened to defy Gov. Tom Wolf’s plans for a phased reopening of the state’s economy. It’s just the latest spat between the president and a Democratic governor.
Wolf fired a warning shot on Monday, threatening “consequences” for counties that defy his orders and begin lifting restrictions ahead of schedule. The governor announced plans to move counties through a gradual “red, yellow and green” reopening with more more than 30 counties set to be in the “yellow” phase of reduced restrictions by Friday.
But a growing chorus of protesters and Republican local officials in some counties still designated as “red,” or areas still subject to stay-at-home orders, have said they will begin reopening businesses without Wolf’s approval. The governor said counties that flout the system risk losing discretionary federal stimulus funding, liquor licenses and insurance.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 707 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday for a total of 58,698 cases. The Keystone State, which has seen 3,943 people die from the coronavirus, has the sixth-most confirmed cases in the U.S.
Matt Bellis, who founded the ReOpen
PA Facebook group and is organizing a protest on the State Capitol steps on Friday, said that he believes the state can start to safely reopen and that the governor should allow residents to “make the judgments that they deem are necessary for themselves and their family.”
“The governor has taken upon himself certain emergency powers that go beyond the original intent of the law and he is not currently working with the General Assembly of Pennsylvania,” Bellis said.
Trump responded tweeted that the state should “Be safe, move quickly!” even as members of his own coronavirus task force warned against lifting restrictions too fast. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a Senate panel on Tuesday that he’s concerned about states easing social distancing orders without taking adequate precautions, which could trigger a new deadly outbreak.
The president on Monday pointed to the protests in Pennsylvania as an example of Americans eager to return to work and reopen schools.
“There just seems to be no effort on certain blue states to get back into gear, and the people aren’t going to stand for it,” Trump said. “They want our country open, I want our country open, too. I want it open safely, but I want it open.”
In response to the president’s comments, Wolf said he didn’t “know how you stay safe and move quickly.” He said he is looking at a more “measured” approach and those defying state orders are acting “in a most cowardly way.”
The two-term governor told reporters Tuesday that he was not informed of the president’s trip to Allentown but welcomes the visit as long as Trump observes the state’s safety protocols.
Trump has sparred with Democratic governors in recent weeks, including Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Washington state’s Jay Inslee, as he pressures states to lift restrictions that have crippled the U.S. economy and left millions jobless.