‘I’m very concerned about the slippery slope in terms of continuing encroachments on personal liberty…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday that it’s time for the U.S. to unveil a plan and relax some of the “draconian” social distancing restrictions imposed across the country.
The state governments need to be “very careful” to ensure that the preventative steps being taken to reduce the spread of the coronavirus are “fully justified,” Barr said.
And it’s time to start thinking about “alternative ways of protecting people,” since health officials estimate the virus could continue to be a problem throughout the summer months.
“I think, you know, when this — when this period of time is — at the end of April expires, I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have and not just tell people to go home and hide under the bed, but allow them to use other ways — social distancing and other means — to protect themselves,” he told Fox News.
The state governments “can impose certain limitations,” Barr added, but that doesn’t mean our leaders have a license to abuse their emergency powers.
For that reason, the Justice Department will be monitoring any actions that “restrict people’s liberty,” Barr said.
“I’m very concerned about the slippery slope in terms of continuing encroachments on personal liberty,” he said. “I do think during the emergency, appropriate, reasonable steps are fine.”
Barr also blasted the mainstream media for attempting to undermine President Trump’s efforts to combat the coronavirus, specifically in regards to his suggestion that physicians should consider prescribing well-known anti-malarial drugs to COVID-19 patients, given the anecdotal evidence supporting their use.
“The stridency of the partisan attacks on [Trump have] gotten higher and higher,” he told Fox News. “The politicization of decisions like hydroxychloroquine, it’s been amazing to me … Before the president said anything about it, there was [a] fair and balanced drug of this very promising drug. And the fact that it had such a long track record, the risks were pretty well-known. As soon as Trump said something positive about it, the media’s been on a jihad to discredit the drug.”