Exclusive: Governor Abbott live on KFDM to talk about rising COVID cases and response
AUSTIN — Texas Governor Greg Abbott appeared live on KFDM News at 6 and answered anchor Tiffany Murphy's questions about the dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in Texas and the state's response.
Texas has just exceeded 200,000 cases, doubling from 100,000 only 17 days ago.
The Governor took issue with elected officials in Texas that he says are refusing to enforce executive orders, and he proceeded to blast them for what he called 'absenteeism' instead of action.
Governor Greg Abbott's comment in a live interview Monday at 6 p.m. with anchor Tiffany Murphy:
"I've thought about it a whole lot. If you look at the county judges or mayors who are asking for more authority to take action or to really shut things down completely back into lockdown mode that would really force Texans into poverty, I found one thing to be consistent: All of those local officials who are asking Texas to shut back down--they've absolutely refused to enforce the current executive orders that are already in place. What they need to show is action, not absenteeism. They need to show up, enforce the law as it is, before they're given any further authority. They ask for more and more, but they do absolutely nothing. Here's the reality: Every single one of these executive orders that have been issued were done based upon the advice of doctors to ensure that if these executive orders were enforced as local authorities have had the authority to do so, it would stop the spread of the coronavirus, especially this most recent order. If local officials enforce the mask order, it will slow the spread of the coronavirus. They just now need to step up and begin to enforce the orders that are already in place."
