Why Trump Switched Course And Attacked Gov. Kemp For Reopening

Trump has pushed governors to reopen their states as fast as possible, and earlier this week, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp followed suit, permitting businesses such as gyms, barber shops and tattoo parlors to resume business on Friday.

But the president turned on the governor at a White House briefing on Wednesday saying, “I want him to do what he thinks is right, but I disagree with him on what he is doing — I think it’s too soon.”

The rebuke came after Dr. Anthony Fauci told other officials on the White House coronavirus task force he could not defend the governor’s decision publicly, leading Dr. Deborah Birx to pressure the president to disavow Kemp’s order, according to CNN.

In recent weeks, Trump has also faced conflicting advice about when to push for reopening the country with some allies of the president, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, urging caution while other Republican lawmakers and Fox News talk show hosts press him to be more aggressive.

The result is a president who has veered back and forth in his messaging: at one point, he insisted the decision to reopen the country was his alone, only to later assert it was up to the governors to make; on March 24, in the thralls of the coronavirus outbreak, he said he wanted the U.S. “opened up and just raring to go by Easter,” only to extend social distancing guidelines to April 30; and he has wavered between praising and criticizing governors with strict social distancing measures.

Polls show Americans are in overwhelming favor of social distancing restrictions, almost a month after they were first put in place.