Dr. Manny Sethi, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate who has spoken out against economy-killing coronavirus lockdowns, told the “Todd Starnes Show” on Wednesday that Democrats are “driving a socialist agenda” that needs to be stopped.
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“They literally want to incentivize people to stay home,” he said, referring to the CARES Act, which allows those unemployed to make an additional $600 a week on top of their normal payout. “I mean, there are folks who don’t want to go back to their jobs because they’re getting paid more on unemployment. And we can’t do that. We have to get America back to work.
Sethi, an orthopedic trauma surgeon from Nashville, has spoken out about the lockdown measures in the past. He told Fox News a few weeks ago that the containment strategy to essentially shut everything down should be more targeted. He said those who are at the greatest risk of the virus should be isolated, but everybody else should go back to work.
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Sethi, who faces 14 other Republicans in the primary, has loaned his campaign $1.9 million from personal funds and intends to drive across the state to listen to voters’ concerns in the age of coronavirus. He told Todd Starnes, the host of the program, that he was particularly troubled about government overreach during the pandemic and the attack on places of worship.
“I just have no place for the government getting between me and the lord and how I worship,” he said. “I just say that’s a gross violation of the constitution. It just saddens me that in so many ways we’ve just given up our liberties in the setting of a crisis.”
Starnes pointed out that Sethi is running in the crowded field and said, “You are the true conservative in this group of Republicans.”
Starnes pointed out that Republicans are trying to keep the Senate from being taken over by Democrats and asked Sethi if he would support Trump if elected.
“I applaud President Trump for everything he’s done, especially in this pandemic,” Sethi said. “He’s had things coming at him 100-miles-a-minute and I just applaud the way he’s conducted himself.”
He called out the media’s effort to damage the president by criticizing his use of the anti-Malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and said their effort is misguided. He said the drug is unproven, but the decision to take it is between the patient and doctor.