Donald Trump's economic adviser suggests putting 'everybody in a space outfit' to safely re-open the economy amid the coronavirus outbreak
- Stephen Moore suggested putting 'everybody in a space outfit' to re-open the economy amid the COVID-19 outbreak
- Moore is one of President Trump's economic task force advisers
- 'Why don’t we just put everybody in a space outfit or something like that?' he said in an interview this week
- He received backlash after comparing anti-lockdown protestors to Rosa Parks
- Moore previously made sexist comments and was dropped as Trump's pick for Federal Reserve board in 2019
- US recorded 891,622 confirmed cases and 50,442 deaths
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
One of President Trump's economic advisers suggested putting 'everybody in a space outfit' to avoid an influx of COVID-19 infections as the economy slowly begins to re-open amid the pandemic.
Stephen Moore, a conservative economist and member of Trump's economic task force, opened up about his idea in an interview with The New York Times this week.
'I was thinking this morning, and this is just kind of a thought experiment because I was thinking about this — why don’t we just put everybody in a space outfit or something like that? No. Seriously,' Moore said.
Moore appeared to acknowledge that most people 'don’t have space outfits' and they'd have to be manufactured first, but continued to flesh the idea out.
Stephen Moore (pictured), a member of Trump's economic task force, suggested Americans don space outfits to avoid COVID-19 infections as the economy begins to re-open
'I know we don’t have space outfits — I mean, just thinking out loud, and maybe this is a crazy idea, but instead of just locking down the economy, putting everybody in a kind of — you’re right,' said Moore.
'You have to make 200 million of these, but it wouldn’t have cost $3 trillion to do that. And you can have for months people just walking around...'
'I mean, I was looking online, and there are all these kinds of suits that they’re building now that you’re not exposed and you’re breath — kind of ventilator.'
Moore mentioned several times throughout the interview that he is 'not a public health expert,' but pushed for a May 1st deadline with Trump to reopen the economy.
Pictured: A person walked past a closed business in Brooklyn on Thursday as New York City remains shut down during the pandemic
Moore was previously one of President Trump 's (pictured) picks for the Federal Reserve board in 2019 before it was revealed he made sexist comments
'I said, “Mr. President, if you can get the economy open by May 1 and right from that date” — and by the way, that, of course, means that some states will open and others won’t — “that you could possibly see this recovery by the end of the summer, and we can really get through this,' Moore said.
In response to re-opening the economy, Trump unveiled a three-phase guideline.
Ultimately, the Trump administration said governors will decide when it's safe to re-open state economies.
Texas announced that it would be the first state to re-open amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with Georgia following suit.
Pictured: Armed veterans demonstrate in front of the state capitol building demanding that businesses be allowed to open up, people allowed to work, and lives returned to normal on Thursday in Kansas
Moore has a history of making controversial comments, including a recent remark where he called anti-lockdown protesters 'modern-day Rosa Parks.'
The comment sparked swift backlash from people outraged that Moore compared a legendary civil rights activist to anti-quarantine protesters.
'I think there's a boiling point that has been reached and exceeded,' Moore, who has been among several influential conservatives leaning on the president to ease shelter-in-place restrictions, told the Washington Post.
'I call these people the modern-day Rosa Parks - they are protesting against injustice and a loss of liberties,' he said.
Moore made similar comments during a video conference chat posted online by the libertarian think tank Independence Institute.
He said in the chat which was posted online that he was helping organize a 'drive-in' protest in Wisconsin, where the Democratic governor, Tony Evers, extended statewide stay-at-home orders until May 26.
'They're going to shut down the Capitol. Shh. Don't tell anybody,' Moore said of the protesters.
'This is a great time for civil disobedience.
'We need to be the Rosa Parks here and protest against these government injustices.'
Stephen Moore, a conservative economist who is close to President Trump, said those protesting social distancing orders during the coronavirus pandemic are akin to 'modern day Rosa Parks'
Rosa Parks was an African-American civil rights icon who famously refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, public bus to a white man in 1955 – a time when the Deep South was segregated by race.
Parks was arrested by authorities for her act of civil disobedience, which ignited the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a crucial turning point in the civil rights movement.
Moore doubled down on his remarks during an interview with BBC 4, where he said: 'What I'm saying to people is be a hero here and take on the mantle of injustice, as Rosa Park so heroically did back in the 1950s.'
'To have the Government shut down their businesses, it's an extraordinary power grab by Government and people are fed up with it. And it is in the American tradition to take to the streets peacefully.'
Pictured: Empress EMS medics prepare to load a patient into an ambulance on Thursday in New York City
Before that Moore was dismissed as Trump's pick for the Federal Reserve board in April 2019 after it was revealed he made a series of sexist comments in published writing and an interview.
Some of the writings Moore has been criticized for recently, which date back nearly two decades, were published in National Review and include sexist undertones.
In one article from 2002 he said female sportscaster Bonnie Bernstein should wear halter tops, and suggested the March Madness tournament get rid of women altogether.
'Here's the rule change I propose: No more women refs, no women announcers, no women beer vendors, no women anything,' he wrote in the article. 'There is, of course, an exception to this rule. Women are permitted to participate, if and only if, they look like Bonnie Bernstein. The fact that Bonnie knows nothing about basketball is entirely irrelevant.'
He even took aim at his wife in another article, claiming 'women are sooo malleable!' when attacking her for voting Democrat.
Another said that female athletes wanted 'equal pay for inferior work.'
He defended the articles after a CNN investigative team unearthed them earlier this month, and claimed they were meant to be tongue-in-cheek.
'This was a spoof. I have a sense of humor,' he told CNN.
Moore has also been criticized recently for newly unearthed comments where he says he supports getting rid of many child labor laws.
'I'm a radical on this, I'd get rid of a lot of these child labor laws. I want people starting to work at 11, 12,' Moore said during a debate on the minimum wage at the 2016 GOP convention.
'Young people are starting to enter the workforce at a later age,' Moore said during the debate. 'The big decline in labor force participation has been people between the ages of 16 and 30, and that's highly problematic.'
'The most damaging thing we can do right now to the U.S. economy is create further barriers to young people getting in the work force,' he added.
Moore also said the biggest challenge facing the economy is men's drop in earnings.
'The biggest problem I see in the economy over the last 25 years is what has happened to male earnings, for black males and white males as well,' Moore told CNBC's Squawk Box.
'They've been declining. That is, I think, a big problem.'
