FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
CONTACT: Liz Doherty
CBS: Gov. Cooper Has Looked to Medical Expertise For COVID Response, While Forest Holds Dangerous In-Person Campaign Events
In Case You Missed It… Over the holiday weekend, CBS News profiled the North Carolina governor race and discussed its importance this cycle particularly “in the era of coronavirus, when the responsibility of a governor has been elevated.” While Governor Cooper has “looked to medical expertise as the crux for [his] coronavirus response,” the story notes, Lt. Governor Forest has disregarded the science and data and urged for “schools to fully open.”
KEY POINTS:
- “Forest has been an outspoken critic of Cooper’s reopening approach when it comes to education, calling his suggestions for masks and half days “nonsensical.” Cooper’s campaign has been quick to point out Forest’s missed attendance at Board of Education meetings.”
- “Forest also filed a lawsuit against Cooper in June, claiming his coronavirus restrictions violate the state’s Emergency Management Act by not getting approval from an executive council. But a state court judge ruled in favor of Cooper, and the lawsuit was dropped.”
- “Forest has trucked ahead with in-person campaign events, with loose restrictions on mask wearing and social distancing. According to his campaign’s Facebook page, they have held at least 10 in-person events in August alone, which the Cooper campaign has used to highlight the medical risk of in-person events through ads.”
- “Ricky Hurtado, a Democratic state house candidate, said Cooper’s leadership ‘is his strongest asset right now,’ calling Forest’s in-person events ‘a slap in the face for North Carolinians.’”
Forest has consistently failed to show up to his job during his time as Lt. Governor. He’s missed 45% of State Board of Education meetings, 84% of State Board of Community Colleges meetings, over 75% Military Affairs Commission meetings, and over ⅓ of Senate sessions between 2013-2018. In some years – such as 2014 and during the last few months of 2017 – Forest missed nearly half of Senate sessions. In 2018, he missed over 70% of Senate sessions.
In the midst of the pandemic, Forest has held numerous indoor campaign events with no social distancing or mask wearing. Forest hopes to “shake as many hands as we can” on the campaign trail, adding “it will be a lot more of this.” He has also spread misinformation about the pandemic and falsely claimed that “masks don’t work with viruses.”
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