Jim Renacci, a GOP primary challenger to Governor DeWine, questioned the governor for claiming he was “proud” of his response to the coronavirus pandemic.
DeWine’s response followed a question posed in an interview with WJW, asking if his administration would have preferred to alter any decision he made during his response to the pandemic.
“Mike DeWine has absolutely nothing to be ‘proud’ of about his disastrous handling of COVID. Instead of defending his awful record to Ohioans, he should give them a massive apology. DeWine protected abortion clinics and big box stores while hundreds of thousands of small businesses were forced to close under his aggressive and unnecessary lockdowns that decimated our state,” Renacci said of the governor.
During the lockdown, several state lawmakers contended the measures carried on for too long, calling on the administration to end the shutdowns.
After DeWine’s decisions, legislators restricted the governor’s emergency powers. The new law gives the legislative body the authority to cancel any overarching health measures put in place by the executive.
Following the initial lockdowns, the incumbent governor encouraged school districts to implement mask mandates, pledging to make a “direct appeal” to school leaders.
The Republican challenger called a decision to mandate mask for children in schools “child abuse.”
“Even today, he is abusing Ohio’s children by demanding schools mandate masks, refusing to protect Ohioans’ medical freedoms, and fearmongering up and down our state while our economy is still climbing out of the grave DeWine dug for it. Dr. Fauci may be proud of Mike DeWine, but Ohio is disgusted. If Mike DeWine is proud of how he handled the lockdowns, then he’s not just liberal, but tone-deaf as well,” Renacci continued in the statement.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jim Renacci” by Jim Renacci. Background Photo “Gov. Mike DeWine” by Mike DeWine.
