Washington Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms rejected Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s efforts to defy orders imposing masks and enforce social distancing measures amid a surge in coronavirus cases as “simply bizarre.” , saying that the republican governor has mounted an “unusual” finger-pointing game.
“The governor has done a lot of things lately and said a lot of things lately that, frankly, are just weird,” Bottoms said Sunday in “Face the Nation.” “You filed a more than 124-page lawsuit against me this week asking for an emergency order to keep me from talking about your orders. If the governor of this state had his way, I would not be allowed to speak to you today. And so that this blame game is very unusual. “
Kemp last week prohibited cities and counties in Georgia to direct residents to wear face masks or covers in public. More than a dozen local governments, including Atlanta, have issued mask mandates, while Kemp has lobbied for the use of facial covers.
On Friday, Kemp stepped up his efforts and filed a lawsuit against Bottoms and members of the city council in an attempt to block Atlanta’s mask mandate. The governor said the city’s executive orders “were more restrictive than his” and accused Bottoms of exceeding their authority.
But Bottoms questioned Sunday why Kemp selected Atlanta for his mask requirement, especially since other Georgia cities have imposed the same restrictions.
“There were other cities in our state that instituted mask mandates, and he did not reject them,” he said. “I don’t know if it is because they were perhaps led by men or if it is maybe because of the demographics in the city of Atlanta. I don’t know what the answers are, but what I do know is that the science is on Our side.”
Georgia was the first state to reopen its economy, but Kemp said Friday that recent protests against racial injustice and police brutality were the “number one” reason for the state’s surge in new coronavirus infections. But Bottoms contested that suggestion, saying he hasn’t seen “data or science to point it out.”
“But from what I’ve seen data is that, when the governor reopened our state, people from all over the country came to our state,” he said. “We’ve seen him tracked down with cell phone data because we were open to business as if we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic.”
A document from the White House coronavirus task force released by the Center for Public Integrity last week identified 18 states that are in the coronavirus “red zone” with Georgia among them. The document recommends that those states re-impose restrictions on residents to mitigate the spread of the virus, including limiting social gatherings, closing bars and gyms, and requiring people to wear masks or face shields.
But mask requirements have become a point of contention, as Americans in some places flatly refuse to follow orders that require face-covering.
However, Bottoms said the mask requirements have “nothing to do with politics.”
“Atlanta is located in two counties in this state, two of the highest counties for COVID-19 infection rates. So it’s not about politics. It’s about people,” he said. “It’s about the more than 3,100 people who have died in our state, the more than 130,000 who have tested positive.”
Bottoms, her husband and one of their children positive result for COVID-19 earlier this month.
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