Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is now following New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s flip-flopping lead, magically deciding just days before the inauguration of Joe Biden that her city must “reopen” despite continuing COVID cases.
Lightfoot, who in tangent with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, has kept bars and restaurants in her city largely closed for in-person dining since the outbreak of the coronavirus, now says those businesses must be allowed to reopen "as quickly as possible.”
According to CBS Chicago, "Lightfoot said she plans to have a conversation with Gov. JB Pritzker about how to begin rolling back virus mitigation efforts ASAP."
“They’ve gone above and beyond to put in mitigation controls inside of the restaurants,” Lightfoot said. “I feel very strongly that we are very close to a point when we should be talking about opening up our bars and restaurants.”
Hilariously, after keeping restaurants closed to the point where many have shut their doors for good, Lightfoot now says that well-regulated dining establishments are “one of the safer places” for the public.
“If we have people and give them an outlet for entertainment in the restaurant space, in the bar space, we have much more of an opportunity, in my view, to be able to regulate and control that environment,” Lightfoot said. “People are engaging in risky behavior that is not only putting themselves at risk, but putting their families, their co-workers, and other ones at risk. Let’s bring it out of the shadows. Let’s allow them to have some recreation in restaurants, in bars, where we can actually work with responsible owners and managers to regulate and protect people from COVID-19.”
Democrat governing officials are now scrambling to create reopening plans for their local economies despite the slow and largely bungled rollout of the COVID vaccine. The about-face comes after these same leaders slammed President Donald Trump repeatedly for his calls to reopen America and allow people to go back to work while saving small businesses that can’t survive prolonged shutdowns. Cuomo’s and Lightfoot’s calls to reopen display all-too-coincidental timing, as President-elect Joe Biden is set to take over the White House next Wednesday and will inherent a country largely crippled by draconian COVID restrictions.