22 Apr Mayor Goodman embarrasses and endangers Nevada workers, businesses, and tourists in CNN interview

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2020
Contact: Will Pregman, wpregman@battlebornprogress.org, 702.752.0656

Mayor Goodman embarrasses and endangers Nevada workers, businesses, and tourists in CNN interview

LAS VEGAS, NV – Today, Mayor of Las Vegas, Carolyn Goodman, appeared on CNN in an interview with Anderson Cooper calling for an end to Governor Steve Sisolak’s stay-at-home executive order and insisting that Las Vegas could be reopened absent increased testing and treatment capacity. 

Annette Magnus, Executive Director of Battle Born Progress, said:  

“The economic pain working families in Nevada are experiencing right now as a result of COVID-19 is legitimate and real. Each day, I run a food pantry to deliver food to people all over the Las Vegas community who struggle with the uncertainty and hardship more than most and desperately want a return to normal. But the reality is that because of President Trump’s incompetence and failure to prepare the nation’s health care capacity for this disease, it was up to states to take decisive action to save lives. Governor Sisolak took those difficult steps early, realizing that as an international tourist hub, our state cannot risk facilitating the spread of the virus locally and beyond by continuing as if nothing is happening. We remain in quarantine in order to build up capacity for testing and treatment of the disease, which is what medical professionals have advised.  

What Mayor Goodman said on national television today was not only foolish and ignorant but insulting to the working families who drive Nevada’s economy. In spite of having no jurisdiction over the casinos comprising the Las Vegas Strip, she suggested sacrificing the health and lives of casino workers as a demented experiment to test the veracity of the disease. She also made several deranged statements claiming the science was in dispute over the effectiveness and necessity of social distancing, testing, and contact tracing – it’s not. 

Mayor Goodman’s lack of humanity and accountability on issues affecting vulnerable people is nothing new, as demonstrated by her championing efforts to criminalize homelessness. But in the interest of preventing the spread of misinformation, the very least she could do is listen to the advice of medical experts and refrain from recklessly spreading falsehoods to a nationwide audience. We hope future Las Vegas tourists will not be deterred from visiting by the disgraceful lack of seriousness Mayor Goodman displayed today. As a native Nevadan, she has embarrassed me and our entire state again today and should be ashamed of herself.”

SPOKESPEOPLE ARE AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH

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