Imagine what she thinks should have happened to the protesters at the Boston Tea Party.
Joy Behar, the liberal co-host on ABC’s “The View,” criticized Michigan protesters for refusing to blindly follow the state’s stay-at-home orders and said they should be willing to “sign away their right to treatment if and when they get infected.”
Behar’s comments came after thousands of protesters materialized at the Michigan Capitol on Wednesday to call out the state’s order to keep businesses closed over the coronavirus threat. The protests included cars and was called “Operation Gridlock.”
Meshawn Maddock, a member of the Michigan Conservative Coalition, told the Associated Press that the “arbitrary blanket” was putting “all of these workers out of business, is just a disaster. It’s an economic disaster for Michigan.”
“And people are sick and tired of it,” he said.
Protests are beginning to emerge across the country as the economy appears to be in a free fall due to travel restrictions that have no end in sight. The U.S. said 5.2 million more Americans filed for unemployment last week, bringing the total number to 22 million since the outbreak.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has faced lawsuits over the state order set to continue until the end of the month.
She said the sad irony about the protest is that they may have just created the need to lengthen the orders, which is something we’re “trying to avoid at all costs,” she said Wednesday.
Behar called out the protesters for violating the order.
“Are you going to say, ‘OK, I don’t need a ventilator because I thought I should go out and defy the governor’s order?” she asked.
Yahoo! Pointed out that many on social media agreed with Behar and said these protesters should not be given treatment.
“I agree with Joy, none of those people or their family members should have the right to be treated if they become sick due to their ignorance,” one Twitter user posted.
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The stunning comment from the host once called Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s call for Medicare-for-all a “big mistake and the “death knell of the party.”
“I love Elizabeth Warren, but this Medicare-for-all with the exclusion of private insurance is the death knell of the party, in my opinion,” Behar said, according to Fox News. “I have Medicare and I also have private insurance. I like it, all of it. I want all of it.”
Some Twitter users were critical of Behar’s response and said peaceful protests are an important right.
“Michigan is in trouble alright,” another Twitter user posted. “It’s in trouble because the governor thinks she is a dictator. This isn’t about health and safety anymore and people know it. And no I don’t want government to take care of me ever. If you do I pity you.”