Senator Mike Braun on Covid-19 Response

Indiana Senator Mike Braun says Coronavirus lockdowns were too strict from the beginning, but he says his home state is an exception.

Braun (R) criticizes what he calls one-size-fits-all stay-home orders, and argues the distinction between essential and nonessential businesses didn’t make sense.

Indiana did both those things for six weeks before allowing nonessential businesses to reopen May 4th in all but three counties. Some businesses, including gyms, movie theaters and bars, remain closed. But Braun says Indiana responded the right way. He says Governor Holcomb has been attentive to limiting “economic carnage” from the pandemic. Braun says instead of ordering shops considered nonessential to close, governors could have let any business stay open as long as they could enforce social-distancing limits, take hygiene precautions, and protect senior citizens and other customers in high-risk groups.

Braun criticizes the fact that people are attacking President Trump’s handling of the pandemic when there were problems with handling scenarios like this before the pandemic heated up.

In spite of that, Braun says the administration has “met the challenge” posed by the pandemic, addressing feared shortages of masks, ventilators and intensive care beds.