Lt. Governor sees holes in NC coronavirus response, warns public about media
Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, a Republican, is running against North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in November's election. Forest in recent days has questioned the data being used to make decisions about the economy.
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Lt. Gov. Dan Forest wants to begin discussions about reopening the economy and he says the state lacks key information it needs to begin those talks. Meanwhile, Democrats have taken issue with some of Forest's recent comments about coronavirus data being "faulty" and "biased."
"Now, it's time to start planning how to rebuild. We must repair North Carolina's economy, which has been seriously damaged by our response to COVID-19," Forest wrote.
Forest, who's running for governor against incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper, has mostly kept his public criticism of response efforts to a minimum.
On March 17, Forest questioned Cooper’s executive order banning dine-in food service. Later that same day, Forest clarified that he questioned the legality of the order,- not whether Cooper's decision was the right one.
But some of Forest's more recent comments irritated state Democrats.
In an interview with Wilmington's Joe Catenacci on April 9 that was published online by the liberal political group American Bridge, Forest suggested that some of the coronavirus information being presented to the public is flawed.
“We’ve got to start making determinations about how to get back to life based on real data, and I think we’ve seen a lot of data out there that’s a bit faulty and certainly a bit biased and certainly not the full story," Forest said.
Asked which data points are "faulty," Forest's campaign didn't give a direct answer. Instead, Forest spokesman Andrew Dunn referred WRAL News to the letter to Cohen.
Additionally, Forest suggested on radio that the media might be misleading the public about the severity of the issue.
“I try to remind people ... The media, the newspapers and the TV stations, they’re in the business to sell advertising, and panic and fear gets people watching, and that sells advertising for them," Forest said in the clip.
"So, while on one end, you may think they’re trying to provide you a public service announcement about what’s going on, they’re still in the advertising business and the viewership business," Forest said, adding, "Fear and panic stokes viewership and advertising dollars to them."
Cooper's campaign spokeswoman Liz Doherty said Forest's radio comments show he "continues to play politics in the middle of a pandemic."
State Rep. Darren Jackson, D-Wake, said it's "ridiculous for Dan Forest to attack public health professionals, scientists and the media for doing their jobs."
His colleague in the House, Rep. Graig Meyer, D-Orange, said "we need public officials who demonstrate leadership, not ones who undermine trusted public health officials or journalists."
State Sen. Jeff Jackson, D-Mecklenburg, said he has "no idea" what Forest was talking about on the radio show.
"And I don't think he does, either," Jeff Jackson said. 'He's just looking for an attack to get some attention, and I guess he thinks casually smearing the scientists we're working with is a good one."
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