Spineless Republican Governors Are Too Afraid to Say Publicly What They Tell Each Other Privately

Over the weekend, the New York Times reported Republican governors are holding secret conference calls to “vent about the administration and the president’s erratic leadership.” How brave of them.

While Republican governors may be privately upset with the Trump administration’s disastrous handling of the pandemic, Democratic governors have actually been doing something about it. They’ve been publicly calling for state aid, PPE, medical supplies, and a national testing strategy from the federal government since the beginning of the pandemic, even when it resulted in insults and abuse from the president.

Republican governors, on the other hand, remain publicly committed to pleasing the president. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is suing the City of Atlanta for implementing a mask mandate, days after Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms pointed out Trump violated the city’s mask order. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu permitted Trump to plan a rally in his state, without any social distancing rules or mask requirements. And Missouri Gov. Mike Parson mocked the pandemic by telling Missourians that when children contract COVID-19 at school they’ll just “get over it,” and “if you want to wear a dang mask, wear a mask.”

Democratic governors are committed to doing whatever it takes to save lives. It’s time for Republican governors to stop being cowards and publicly stand up to the Trump administration, before it’s too late.

“It is shameful that Republican governors continue to stay silent in public about the Trump administration’s disastrous and deadly pandemic response,” said DGA Communications Director David Turner. “Gossiping behind Trump’s back doesn’t get Americans the help they desperately need. If Republican governors had any interest in saving lives, they would join Democratic governors in publicly calling on the Trump administration for more PPE, a national testing strategy, and state aid.”