Four Ohio state legislators are bringing impeachment charges against Gov. Mike DeWine (R), accusing him of abuse of power and violating the state and U.S. constitutions with his COVID-19 restrictions.
The group of lawmakers filed 12 articles of impeachment against DeWine on Monday. The charges focus on DeWine’s curfews, which closes some businesses while allowing others to stay open, and his mask-wearing mandate.
However, DeWine appeared unphased by the charges and said he will continue to take the actions he feels are necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
During an interview on “CBS This Morning” Tuesday, he was asked about the impeachment charges.
He said, “Well, look, it’s four members of the general assembly. They introduced a resolution before to have me impeached. I guess they have a right to go and file anything they want to.”
“But, we’re going to stay focused on what we have to do. As you pointed out, we’re being hit very, very hard,” he added.
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A #coronavirus vaccine could be just weeks away and the Trump administration says it's up to governors to decide who gets it first.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) December 1, 2020
Only on @CBSThisMorning, @GovMikeDeWine joins us to talk about plans to rollout a vaccine, as hospitalizations in his state soar to a new record. pic.twitter.com/cWqQPN6JpB
When asked what message he would send to the lawmakers who filed the impeachment charges and accused him of “disregard.”
“What I said yesterday in our press conference when I got that question was, they should talk to the first line nurses. We had four nurses yesterday on our press conferences. It was gut-wrenching to listen to them when they described how it is when someone is dying of Covid, how it is when someone cannot be in contact with their family. And tremendous toll on these nurses, on the doctors, and the people on the front lines.”
He added, “So people who want to criticize measures like wearing masks and basic things that we know — absolutely know — work, they should go talk to those front line health people. Because I think when they listen to them, it’s pretty clear we have to whatever we can to slow this virus down.”
DeWine announced earlier this month that he would be reimposing a mask-wearing mandate as the state saw a 96% increase in cases over the course of two weeks.
At the beginning of the outbreak, DeWine received positive reviews for his quick reviews of his response to the virus after he moved to close public schools, bars, and restaurants before the state had reported its first case of the virus.
For most of the year, cases in the state remained relatively steady and did not see a massive spike. It was not until the beginning of October when the state began to see an increase going into November, which is when the number of daily news cases saw a massive surge.
Ohio is now reporting an average of 8,251 per day on average over the past week.