White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany slammed mandates announced by several state governors that will limit the amount of people who can attend Thanksgiving celebrations this year.
She called restrictions that go further than recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “Orwellian.”
“I think a lot of the guidelines you’re seeing are Orwellian,” McEnany said Wednesday on Fox and Friends. “Let me start by saying the CDC has put out considerations as we prepare to go about Thanksgiving, about socially distancing, wearing masks, doing what you can, and there’s a whole list, a page of very good considerations, and in that, they say, ‘We’re not recommending a certain number of people, but we are giving considerations that you should put in place.'”
Asked of her opinion on tight restrictions rolled out by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who this week mandated a two-week “freeze” to slow the spread of the coronavirus, McEnany said the regulations do not keep freedoms promised by the Constitution.
“That’s not the American way,” McEnany said. “We don’t lose our freedom in this country. We make responsible health decisions as individuals.”
Brown’s order mandates that residents in the state wear face masks while indoors on Thanksgiving or face 30 days in jail and up to $1,200 in fines.
“It’s Orwellian in a place like Oregon to say if you gather in numbers more than six, we might come to your house and arrest you, and you get 30 days of jail time,” McEnany said.
Oregon is not the only state adopting harsh restrictions in an attempt to curb the coronavirus. In California, no more than three households will be allowed to gather for Thanksgiving dinner.
On Tuesday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a two-week curfew stretching from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day that will begin on Thursday.
