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LOS ANGELES - “We should have closed down completely for four months and had the federal government pay the difference, then we could have gotten over it. But we didn’t have the quarantine, we didn’t pay the low-paid workers, and we didn’t have the testing.”
More than five months since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic, former California Governor Jerry Brown criticized the federal response, and its impact on California, during an exclusive interview with FOX 11’s Elex Michaelson for The Issue Is.
“[The President needs] to have mobilized manufacturing so that we could have had millions of tests a day,” Brown said. “We had to do that so we could identify what was the subset, the group that was infected, and then quarantine them, because without those tests, you have to quarantine everybody, and that becomes intolerable and will lead to a depression.”
Ultimately, Brown posited that the failed national response trickled down to California, making it more difficult for Brown’s successor, Governor Gavin Newsom to adequately reopen.
“The failure of the President has led to the fix that Newsom and California find themselves in.”
Back in May, California began a phased re-opening of the state’s economy, with an initial focus on curbside pickup at retail locations, manufacturing, and offices that could not adequately telework. At the time, the state had roughly 80,000 confirmed cases.
By mid-July, as the state total ballooned to nearly 400,000 cases, Newsom had to roll-back those efforts, ordering the suspension of indoor activities at bars and restaurants, and putting the upcoming school year in question.
As of this week, California has some 659,000 cases, the most of any state, and 41 of its 58 counties remain on the state watch-list, which indicates growing infection and hospitalization rates that force reopening efforts to stall or roll-back.
“Obviously we opened too soon, because it expanded,” Brown said. “But I have to say, as a Governor, this thing is complicated. People are yelling and screaming, ‘we’ve gotta work,’ ‘we’ve got to get to school,’ ‘we’ve got to get to our jobs,’… we’ve got millions of people who, without the money, can’t make it, can’t feed their families, so the Governor had a tough decision to make, things looked better, and, as it turned out, he had to turn back.”
Brown’s sentiment echoed that of his predecessor, Governor Arnold Schwazenegger.
During an August 9 appearance on The Issue Is, Schwarzenegger said that while Newsom was doing a “great job” with his handling of the pandemic, in hindsight, the state probably could have waited another month to reopen.
“[Newsom] opened up businesses maybe quicker than we should have because then it backfired and coronavirus came right back like gangbusters,” Schwarzenegger said. “Now, I think we've learned from that and maybe we have to pull back and wait until the numbers come down.”
Earlier this spring, Schwarzenegger, Brown, and their predecessors Gray Davis and Pete Wilson, joined business leaders like Bob Iger and Time Cook on Newsom’s economic revival task force led by businessman Tom Steyer.
As California continues to navigate coronavirus, Michaelson asked Brown if the task force is still active and operational.
“We talk, rather we listen, and there’s sub-groups that assist the Governor,” Brown said. “But basically, the government’s gotta do this stuff, it’s local public health, local communities, and the city.”
In a wide-ranging interview on The Issue Is, Brown also discussed California Senator Kamala Harris’ inclusion on the Democratic ticket, climate change, especially as it relates to the wildfires and rolling blackouts plaguing California, and the issue of age in the upcoming Presidential election, Brown saying age portends wisdom, and that at 82-years-old he doesn’t think that even he is too old to be elected.
The Issue Is is California's only statewide political show. Watch FOX 11 Los Angeles Fridays at 10:30PM and Sundays at 9:00AM. For more showtimes and information, go to TheIssueIsShow.com.