Savannah Mayor: Georgia Governor "Does Not Give a Damn About Us"
TAPPER: In our national lead today, immediate backlash after Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp banned cities in his state from mandating the wearing of masks in public. The mayor of Savannah tweeted, quote: It is officially official, Governor Kemp does not give a damn about us. Every man or woman for himself/herself. Ignore the science and survive the best you can, unquote. Governor Kemp characteristically declined our invitation to complain why he is keeping mayor in the state from taking this action to try to save the lives of their citizens. But that Savannah mayor, Van Johnson, joins me now live. We should point out, Savannah is in Chatham County which just reported the highest number of coronavirus hospitalizations since this pandemic began. Mayor Johnson, thanks -- thanks for joining us. Beyond that tweet, what was your reaction when you heard the decision from Governor Kemp?</s>MAYOR VAN JOHNSON (D) SAVANNAH, GEORGIA: I was furious. I was absolutely at a loss for words, because here we are fighting to get in front of the coronavirus. We're doing the best that we can, day in and day out, and gets increasing odds. And then not only are we fighting coronavirus on one hand, it appears as if we're fighting our state on the other hand. It made absolutely no sense to me that in a time where our corporate giants are mandating masks, where the state of Alabama is mandating masks, where the state of Florida, about 120 miles south of us is the hot spot of the nation, that our governor would not only do an emergency order, but specifically stop cities across the state of Georgia from doing what we can to be able to protect our folks. It just didn't make sense to me.</s>TAPPER: So, the mayor of Athens, Clark County, says he's going to try to fight this order from the government in court, presumably, will you join him? Will you try to fight it?</s>JOHNSON: Oh, our order still stands. We're going to do what we can to protect Savannahians. This is a fight for our lives, Jake. This is a fight for our businesses. This is a fight for our future. This is too important, and all of the sides says that wearing masks slow the spread of COVID-19. We're going to do all we can to make sure that we protect our citizens. This is what this is all about. It has nothing to do with politics. I mean, it's about protecting our folks.</s>TAPPER: Yeah, the governor is encouraging people to wear masks. He's just not allowing you to mandate it. Has he explained it at all? I mean, why shouldn't you be allowed to do what 36 states have done, including Alabama, mandating masks in public, so as to protect people?</s>JOHNSON: From guidance that was given by the CDC, which is located in Atlanta, Georgia. The reality of it for us, Jake, is that, you know, it makes perfectly good sense. On July 1st, Savannah was the first city in Georgia to mandate masks.