Ahead of Gov. Mike DeWine’s address Wednesday evening on the coronavirus surge, Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said he was concerned about the increase in new infections in Ohio, which had been “one of the best [states] in the country” in terms of early response.
“For weeks and weeks ... Governor DeWine was doing it right and saved lives. President Trump was doing it wrong and more people died,” Mr. Brown told reporters in a press call. “But since the governor opened the state, it clearly opened too quickly. That we allow mass gatherings and weddings of up to 300 people makes no sense to me. It never did.”
The senator also blasted President Trump’s speech on Tuesday night at the White House Rose Garden, which was intended to be an update on the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic but turned into a “political rally.”
“He did something no president’s ever done, and that is use the Rose Garden strictly for a political speech,” he said. “His favorite part of the job is standing in front of thousands of adoring people and speaking for 90 minutes. And that’s been taken away because people won’t show up in large numbers [to rallies].”
Mr. Brown called the news conference to announce the return of his manufacturing camps. The eight-year program has been significantly curtailed due to coronavirus threats, but is still happening virtually in Knox, Mahoning, and Richland counties, with a focus on bioengineering.
He said not enough has been done to recruit and retain Ohio manufacturers.
“You can see from decades of bad tax policy and trade policy that entices companies to move overseas in pursuit of a business mission where you shut down production in Youngstown or Cleveland or Mansfield,” he said. “One of the big reasons we do these manufacturing camps is because the state of Ohio has done little to retain manufacturing.”
Republican Sen. Rob Portman, meanwhile, toured the Port of Toledo Wednesday to survey the product of a $16 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant that helped upgrade the dock at Midwest Terminals.
Asked about the state of coronavirus in Ohio, Mr. Portman, who wore a white paper mask with the Ford logo, said he was concerned, but not as much as he would be if hospital usage was up.
“I’m not happy with where we are. But on the other hand, I’m not as alarmed as I would be if we were in a place like Florida, where their hospitalization usage is just skyrocketing, to point that they’re worried about having enough room,” he said. “We don’t have that problem yet in Ohio. We don’t want to have that problem in Ohio.”
First Published July 15, 2020, 5:29 p.m.
