Before speaking via video conference on Tuesday to senators on Capitol Hill, Dr. Anthony Fauci told the New York Times that as the country grapples with the next stage of the coronavirus pandemic, his message is one of extreme caution. “If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to: ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal,” he wrote in an email.
“Needless suffering and death,” Jimmy Kimmel repeated on Tuesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. “I think [that’s] Trump’s new campaign slogan.”
The president and the nation’s top infectious disease expert have outwardly expressed opposing views about the coronavirus, with Trump pushing to reopen the country (he tweeted “TRANSITION TO GREATNESS,” in all caps, last week) as Fauci has pushed to take things slowly. As a result, the debate over the coronavirus has split across party lines: A recent CNN poll showed 71% of Republicans feel the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is behind the country, while 70% of Democrats feel the worst is yet to come.
But even within the conservative landscape, there is wariness about restarting traditional behaviors during the coronavirus pandemic. While Fox News hosts have pressed for the country to reopen segments of the economy, the network’s parent company has extended its office closures through June 15.
“Isn’t that something?” Kimmel said on Tuesday. “Fox News, the ones who are making fun of people cowering at home, is advising its employees to stay at home. Because apparently they don’t get their news from Fox News. So looks like we have at least another month of Judge Jeanine smearing her lipstick on like the Joker.”
In the end, Kimmel said, the conversation about the coronavirus breaking off into a political debate is “silly because viruses don’t care who you vote for.”
He then compared the stay-at-home orders to a scab that covers a particularly ghastly wound. “The best thing you can do with a scab is be patient and let it fall off,” Kimmel said. “Unfortunately, there are some impatient people who want to dig their tiny, orange fingernails into the scab and rip it off early. And eat it. And while that would feel good for a minute, if you rip off the scab and the wound is still bleeding under there, you have to start all over again with a new scab.”
Kimmel’s conclusion? “So what Dr. Fauci is saying is the same thing your mother said: Don’t pick the scab.”
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