Morning Joe was wondering why Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's press conference yesterday seemed so familiar.
"I have heard this before. Where have I heard this before?" Joe Scarborough asked. Then they rolled the famous clip from "Jaws":
"Yeah. Willie, there are so many things that Republicans do that make them the party of gestures. This could be of course a deadly gesture, but Greg Abbott understands, I hope, that we understand he is doing this and putting peoples' lives in danger because he's trying to move past a crisis of his making where people died," Scarborough said.
"They froze to death. They didn't have drinking water for weeks. He's trying to change the subject when he knows if he just waits a month, the way vaccines are rolling out, he would be able to make that announcement safely. But we learned from CPAC that the people that acted most recklessly are the ones that are the most rewarded."
"Yeah. That's the frustration," Willie Geist said.
"Public health experts say, wait, we're this close to the finish line. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer every day. Why now? In fact, two days ago, the CDC expressed public concern about states at this moment rolling back things like mask mandates and minimum capacities in restaurants, just because we are getting the vaccine out to people now. Johnson & Johnson just added as a third weapon in this fight against coronavirus.
"And so you heard the exasperation from CDC officials and public health experts yesterday, saying, 'Why now, Texas? Give yourself even a month and it would better than now than to just throw the doors of the state wide open. And to put it on the people individually, which I guess is the point of this, which they said is to restore freedom. If you want to wear masks, if you think that's best for you and your family, wear one, but we're not going to mandate it, says the governor of Texas."
