MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell had a question for Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on her Tuesday show: why are red states so bad at handling COVID-19?
Manchin was an obvious candidate for Mitchell's softball questions because the segment centered around a Planet Fitness in his home state of West Virginia that is asking 200 people to self-quarantine after possibly being exposed to the virus. Mitchell asked, "why was that gym in Morgantown even opened in the first place?"
Manchin gave a rather matter-of-fact answer about phased re-opening, but it would have been to the benefit of MSNBC's viewers if Mitchell had also informed them that as of Tuesday, West Virginia was at five deaths per 100,000 people and 2,832 cases per 100,000 people, both among the lowest in the country.
Mitchell then asked the red state Democrat why red states are so bad at COVID management, "You're from a red state. You are a Democrat. Do you relate to what Governor Abbott, what Governor DeSantis did, in Texas and Florida, and following the president's lead, this is so political, you're not a real man if you wear a mask. We saw the rally in Tulsa, the rally in Phoenix. How did this happen?"
This time, Manchin responded with a more partisan reply about leaders not being willing to lead, but Mitchell's disdain for red states not only ignores her own previous history of siding with Andrew Cuomo, but also California and that state's re-opening and the role the protests may have had a role in those surging case numbers.
This segment was sponsored by GoDaddy.com.
Here is a transcript for the June 30 show:
MSNBC
Andrea Mitchell Reports
12:09 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: In West Virginia, 200 people now are being asked to quarantine after being potentially exposed to the virus at a Planet Fitness gym in Morgantown, West Virginia. Joining me now is Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia who serves on the Armed Services Committee. Senator, why was that gym in Morgantown even opened in the first place?
JOE MANCHIN: Well, they opened it back up in the second round, the governor opened up the gyms and what had happened was one of the customers on June 24, between 9:00 and 3:00 P.M., they know what shift and person was diagnosed, and had the virus. And they've asked everybody that was there during that period of time, I think 205 of their customers, to self-quarantine for two weeks. They opened up again this morning.
MITCHELL: You are sort of uniquely knowledgeable on so many fronts, because you were a governor. You're from a red state. You are a Democrat. Do you relate to what Governor Abbott, what Governor DeSantis did, in Texas and Florida, and following the president's lead, this is so political, you're not a real man if you wear a mask. We saw the rally in Tulsa, the rally in Phoenix. How did this happen?
