Attorney General William Barr is receiving harsh criticism from House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) for equating state coronavirus restrictions to slavery.
“I think that that statement by Mr. Barr was the most ridiculous, tone-deaf, God-awful things I have ever heard. It is incredible that the chief law enforcement officer in this country would equate human bondage to expert advice to save lives,” Clyburn said.
He added, “Slavery was not about saving lives; it was about devaluing the lives. This pandemic is a threat to human life, and the experts — the medical experts, the scientists, are telling us what it takes to respond successfully to this pandemic.”
Clyburn argued if this “God-awful duo” of President Donald Trump and Barr did what is necessary to protect the American people from the spread of the coronavirus, the nation would be past it as other countries are.
Check out his comments:
As AG Barr called a Covid-19 lockdown the “greatest intrusion on civil liberties” other than slavery, @WhipClyburn says “it is incredible” that Barr would “equate human bondage to expert advice to save lives. Slavery was not about saving lives, it was about devaluing lives” pic.twitter.com/ZUJe89YOiy
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) September 17, 2020
Clyburn argued a national lockdown would have saved lives and “our children would be going on with their lives today.”
He reiterated the nation is suffering under the leadership of Trump and Barr.
“That is just what we’re up against here, two people in charge of running the law enforcement of this country are absolutely tone-deaf to what it takes to be great leaders,” Clyburn said.
He continued, “They are driving this country into a direction that no one ever thought they would see in our lifetimes.”
Clyburn was not the only one to weigh in on Barr’s comments.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows centered his response around the impact of the lockdowns on Americans’ individual and civil liberties, as IJR previously reported.
He told reporters on the driveway to the White House’s West Wing, “When bad things happen, we sometimes, not always, but sometimes start to take away the liberties.”