President Trump on Thursday ripped Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for his plan to reopen many of his state’s businesses on Friday, declaring, “I am not happy about Brian Kemp.”
“I want the states to open more than he does. But I do not like at this early stage. I wasn’t happy with it, or with Brian Kemp,” Trump said of the Republican governor at the daily briefing of the coronavirus task force at the White House.
The president initially supported Kemp’s move, but lashed out at him at Wednesday’s briefing over his reopening of such businesses as hair salons and tattoo parlors.
Trump had called Kemp a day earlier to express his views, but bristled when a reporter asked if the governor was defying him.
“No he didn’t defy me. That’s your language. I said [to Kemp], ‘You make your own decision.’ I told him that,” he continued, adding that Kemp was not following the task force’s guidelines for reopening.
“I want people to be safe and with the people in Georgia to be safe. I don’t want this thing to flare up because you’re deciding to do something that is not in the guidelines,” he said, referring to the governor.
“I could’ve stopped him but I decided to watch it closely, so we will see what happens. I told him very distinctly, I said, ‘You do what you think is best.’ But if you ask me, I am not happy.”
Kemp announced the move on Monday.
Other businesses given the green light to reopen include bowling alleys.
But to start operating again, the businesses must follow strict social distancing and hygiene requirements, which can be troublesome, especially for services like haircuts that usually require close contact.