Coronavirus: Bill de Blasio Backs Trump’s European Travel Ban

Appearing Thursday on CNN’s New Day, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he agrees with President Donald Trump’s decision to ban travel from most of Europe to prevent further coronavirus cases in the United States from the continent.

A partial transcript is as follows: 

JOHN BERMAN: Obviously, New York City is an international city, a lot of travelers coming from around the world. The president just announced a 30-day ban of Europeans coming to the United States from 26 countries. How will that affect New York City and is that a good policy, in your mind?

BILL DE BLASIO: Look, I accept the notion of travel bans in this environment. So I disagree with President Trump on many things but actually that the travel ban piece of the strategy has been, in many ways, warranted. It does not replace a proactive strategy by the United States of America to address our own issues because we have our own community spread now. And it does not forgive the fact that the basic supplies are not being organized by the federal government and the testing is not widespread. But the travel bans, I think, inherently, makes some sense. It will hurt every place that depends on tourism, business conferences. It will hurt our economy. It will hurt people’s livelihoods. But I don’t think it’s wrong. I think it’s necessary.

[H/T RealClearVideo]