Rival slams NC congressman for ‘reckless and dangerous’ behavior at reopen rally
Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop’s Democratic opponent has blasted his participation in this week’s “Reopen NC” protest, the latest sign of how politics is coloring the COVID-19 response.
Bishop joined an estimated 1,000 protesters in Raleigh on Tuesday urging Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to lift the stay-at-home order that has closed many businesses. On Thursday Cooper extended the order through May 8. And on Friday, Cooper announced public schools across North Carolina will remain closed until at least August.
“Congressman Bishop’s participation in the march is reckless and dangerous,” Democrat Cynthia Wallace said in a release. “He should know better and be doing everything in his power to keep the citizens in our district safe.”
In a statement Friday, Bishop said, “Instead of obsessing over my every movement, Ms. Wallace should demand Roy Cooper publicly disclose the secret data and modeling he’s using to justify his shutdown scheme that’s cost over 700,000 North Carolinians their jobs in the last month with no end or relief in sight.”
Tuesday’s protest resembled a political rally with many marchers wearing red MAGA hats and waving yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flags recently associated with tea party protests. Similar rallies and protests have been held in other states.
The protests indicate reflect the increasing partisanship surrounding government responses to the pandemic.
“Like everything the COVID response is getting infected with partisanship,” said political scientist Michael Bitzer of Catawba College. “On the Republican side it’s an economic but also a personal liberty issue ... On the Democratic side it’s about public health and the larger good. So you’ve kind of got a classic individual vs. society divide.”
Bishop, of Charlotte, spoke to the protesters at the rally.
“I knew I had to come here …. to remind the governor that our rights don’t exist by his benevolence,” he told them. “The 1st Amendment is not under a stay-home order.”
Asked what was reckless about Bishop’s participation, Wallace said the congressman did not appear to be social distancing himself from other protesters, who themselves marched close together. However he did have a mask, which he removed when he spoke to reporters or protesters.
“It was clear in the images that he did not do that and it endangered him and people around him,” said Wallace.
She said she agrees with Cooper and state health officials that the state needs more time. On Thursday Cooper said while “it’s clear that we are flattening the curve . . . our state is not ready to lift restrictions yet.”
State officials have said they’re following guidelines laid out last week by President Donald Trump.
Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who’s running for re-election, supported Cooper’s decision.
“Governor Cooper’s plan is in line with the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s recommended guidance for states to re-open,” he said in a statement Thursday.
But other Republicans disagreed.
GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, Cooper’s November opponent, said extending the stay-at-home order “will needlessly crush businesses and destroy livelihoods in places that don’t even have a single case of coronavirus.” He called the governor’s proposal a “one-size-fits-all approach.”
And Republican officials in Mecklenburg’s surrounding counties also have pushed back against the restrictions.
Polls have shown more Americans favor stay-at-home orders than opening the economy too soon.
Pew Research, for example, found that 2 out of 3 Americans worry that government will lift restrictions too quickly rather than not quickly enough. That was consistent with other polls.
In the 9th District, which runs from southeast Mecklenburg to Robeson County, Bishop has a big financial advantage over Wallace, a risk manager for a Charlotte bank. According to the Federal Election Commission, he had $348,000 in cash on hand through March. Wallace had $65,000.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 3:13 PM with the headline "Rival slams NC congressman for ‘reckless and dangerous’ behavior at reopen rally."
