Start Spreading the News: Missouri Gov. Mike Parson Yelled At An Editorial Board for An Article They Didn’t Write

Just days after the Kansas City Star called out GOP Missouri Gov. Mike Parson for his dishonesty, Parson lied about another newspaper’s reporting. At his daily briefing, Parson tried to insist that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board used the phrase “simple-minded” to describe rural Missourians (which they did not). Turns out Parson had mixed up the St. Louis Post-Dispatch with a conservative blogger, so I guess we know where Parson gets his news.
Instead, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had written an editorial about the risks some parts of rural America, including rural Missouri, face as cases of coronavirus are spreading faster than in urban centers. The editorial board warns Missourians outside of city centers to heed warnings from public health officials and calls out Parson for his handling of the pandemic, saying, “it didn’t help that rural state governors, including Missouri’s Mike Parson, were generally slower to issue stay-at-home orders than their urban counterparts, further signaling to their citizens that this wasn’t a threat.”
Parson’s slow reaction to the coronavirus has put rural Missourians in a dangerous spot. He was one of the last governors to issue a stay-at-home order, and he also failed to prepare Missouri’s rural infrastructure to care for its vulnerable populations. As critical rural hospitals closed across the state, Parson doubled down on his refusal to expand Medicaid, even though reports show that Medicaid expansion may determine if those hospitals can stay open through the pandemic.
“Mike Parson clearly doesn’t do his research,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Christina Amestoy. “Instead of listening to public health experts, Parson has been getting advice from the most extreme factions of his party, leaving rural areas of his state woefully unprepared to handle a surge of coronavirus patients. Missourians deserve better.”