Trump economist: ‘Worst economic news is starting to get behind us’

Stephen Moore, a member of the White House coronavirus economic task force, said he thinks the “worst economic news” has passed and urged Democratic governors and mayors to expedite the reopening of their respective states and cities amid the pandemic. 

Moore expressed confidence that “people are feeling more safe” in the United States, but admonished politically “blue” areas that are reopening more gradually for hindering a more widespread economic recovery. 

“The problem is we still have New York. And we have California. And we have Michigan and Pennsylvania… The Los Angeles mayor is saying that they’re going to keep the Los Angeles economy shut down for three more months,” Moore said.

“That’s lunatic to think that Los Angeles could ever come back from that. You do have some of these blue state mayors and blue state governors who are continuing with the lockdown,” he said Sunday on John Catsimatidis’s radio show.

“But overall, I feel, that we’re going to start to see a leveling off … The worst economic news is starting to get behind us.”

Moore and other Republicans have been eager to reopen the country after almost every state leader imposed stay-at-home orders that shuttered a string of industries.

Many GOP lawmakers and government officials have warned that further economic stumbles could be more harmful than the coronavirus itself.

“Don’t make the cure worse than the problem itself. That can happen, you know!” President Trump tweeted earlier this month.

The economy has been upended by the pandemic — roughly 36.5 million Americans filed for unemployment since the outbreak began. 

Democrats, however, have supported a less aggressive approach to reopening, fearing that easing restrictions too quickly could lead to a spike in coronavirus cases and subsequent deaths.

John Catsimatidis is an investor in The Hill