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As Washington wrestles with how to respond to the novel coronavirus, New York Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice on Wednesday focused in part on whether campaign rallies ought to stop happening.
In response to her questions at a Capitol Hill hearing, the Department of Homeland Security’s acting deputy director, Ken Cuccinelli, refused to say that President Donald Trump’s re-election effort should avoid holding his big gatherings.
Trump’s 2020 campaign is pressing ahead with a scheduled rally, while Democratic White House hopefuls Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have scrapped rallies.
See: Coronavirus starts to scramble presidential campaign
And read: Coronavirus update — 124,578 cases, 4,584 deaths, WHO declares a pandemic
Rice noted that one top U.S. health official, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said earlier Wednesday that he would “recommend that there not be large crowds.” Fauci added “if that means not having any people in the audience when the NBA plays, so be it.”
The congresswoman then asked Cuccinelli and Dr. Stephen Redd, a top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, if they agreed with Fauci’s recommendation on limiting big gatherings.
Redd said he did agree, while Cuccinelli said: “We look to the medical profession for that guidance. I’m sorry, I’m not going to give you my opinion.”
Rice then said: “Why can’t you answer this question? Is it because the president has said that he has no plans to not have people, thousands of people, gather together in large crowds?”
She pressed Cuccinelli for a yes or no answer on whether he agreed with Fauci, and Cuccinelli said he was not prepared to give it, leading her to say that his response was “quite unbelievable.”
Cuiccinelli later said: “We will adjust our decision making based on what’s going on at the particular community at issue. Would I have less reluctance in agreeing with Dr. Fauci if we were talking about Seattle? Heh, yes.” The state of Washington is among the places in the U.S. that has been hardest hit by the outbreak.
Getty Images Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) delivers remarks during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing last year.
The exchange came at a hearing held on Wednesday afternoon by the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana said he was alarmed to hear suggestions that there be federally mandated limits on “gatherings of free Americans.”
“We are not Italy. We are not South Korea. We’re certainly not Beijing. We’re not Hong Kong. This is America,” Higgins said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -5.86% fell into a bear market Wednesday, closing more than 20% off its all-time closing high in a broad selloff attributed in part to disappointment in the lack of quick action on fiscal stimulus to cushion the economy from the effects of the spread of COVID-19.
