On CNN Wednesday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) slammed new claims from the White House that state reopening guidelines are being "edited" — and suggested there's a more cynical reason why the guidelines have been withheld.
"As somebody who works in television, has worked in television almost 30 years, a lot of stuff dies in editing," said anchor Anderson Cooper. "That's a way to kill stuff. Say yeah, it's being edited. We'll work on it more in editing. It makes no sense. States are lifting restrictions without these detailed guidelines. And I looked at the document. They're incredibly detailed. They look like they'd be very helpful. What's going on here?"
"Yeah, if your star player arrives at the game after the ninth inning, it doesn't really matter," said Murphy. "And the fact is, our star players are at the CDC. Our best epidemiologists, the people who can offer the clearest and most relevant guidance as to how we reopen our economies, are in the Centers for Disease Control. What's the point of the CDC if it doesn't offer expertise to states when they are opening up after the worst pandemic to hit this country in a century?"
"I think this is ultimately about the president wanting to be able to have clean hands," said Murphy. "The president doesn't want to lead, so he can armchair quarterback, criticize and critique states and try to pass the buck to somebody else. And if he actually did offer a detailed set of guidance or rules on how you reopen a daycare center or school or a retail industry, then he would be up for criticism and accountability, and the president doesn't want that."
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