During an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) responded to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) accusation that she is treating protests differently from religious services by stating that D.C. is following a phased reopening, and “First Amendment protests and large gatherings are not the same.”
After listening to a clip from McConnell where he said, “Here in the District of Columbia, the mayor celebrates massive street protests. She actually joins them herself. But on her command, churches and houses of worship remain shut. … Apparently, while protests are now permissible, prayer is still too dangerous.”
Bowser responded, “I think the senator is very familiar with the White House’s reopening plan. It’s a phased reopening plan. It follows data and science. The president was there when it was presented by Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci. And we are following a phased reopening plan in Washington, D.C., and we are in phase one. We’re reopening our city safely and according to the science. Now, First Amendment protests and large gatherings are not the same. And that’s why we don’t see our cities opened up to all of the massive events. Now, in the United States of America, people can protest.”
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