March 15, 2020

Devin Nunes Just Went on Fox News and Told Viewers, “It’s a Great Time to Go Out”

In an appearance on Fox News on Sunday morning, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) had some, well, unorthodox advice for Americans hunkered down against the coronavirus this weekend: “If you’re healthy, you and your family, it’s a great time to go out and go to a local restaurant, likely you can get in easy.”

Nunes was (rightly) telling people not to hoard food like crazed preppers. He was also right to say you should support local businesses right now. But his casual “go to a local pub” is, of course, idiotic. He should’ve known better, considering Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s equally dumb and now-deleted tweet from Saturday night:

It also flies in the face of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s leading expert on infectious diseases, telling people on the Sunday morning shows to stop going out—and that he wouldn’t go to a restaurant right now.

The point is to flatten the curve. To do so, we need to proactively socially distance, even if that means avoiding—gasp!—small amounts of pleasure on the weekends. It will save lives. During this time, local restaurants and bars and the whole economy could take a hit. Yes, like Nunes said, try to support them. But take it to go! Batch order some broth or coffee beans from a spot around the corner. Pay your dog walker even if you don’t need them. Don’t. Go. Out.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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