Independent Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman has found herself in hot water recently for calling stay-at-home measures in Las Vegas "total insanity," and for a recent comment in an interview on MSNBC with host Katy Tur.
Goodman told Tur that they would worry about the facts of the virus after the pandemic subsides.
After Goodman said that only a marginal amount of Nevadans had died from the virus, Tur pointed out that the figure in itself was likely a demonstration of how stay-at-home measures are proving effective.
Goodman disagreed, saying that there wasn't a proper "control group" to chalk the minimal deaths up to safety measures recommended by health experts.
If you were expecting contrition from that cringeworthy interview, you won't find it in another interview Goodman gave soon after with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
Goodman brought up the so-called need for a control group yet again, except this time she volunteered her own constituents.
Watch below.
Las Vegas Mayor offers city as "control group", "we offer to be a control group" to see how many people die without… https://t.co/YHGPQ10jkr— Josh Marshall (@Josh Marshall) 1587583401.0
Goodman said:
"How do you know until we have a control group? We could be a control group. We offered to be a control group."
A stunned Anderson Cooper asked if he'd heard her correctly, before she continued:
"What I said was I offered to be a control group and I was told by our statistician you can't do that because people from all parts of southern Nevada to work in the city, and I said, 'Oh that's too bad.' Because I know that when you have a disease, you have a placebo that gets the water and the sugar and then you get those that actually get the shot. We would love to be that placebo [so] you have something to measure against."
It wasn't lost on Anderson Cooper that Las Vegas relies on tourism for much of its economy, and that reopening these businesses would also depend on tourists crossing state and international lines amidst a global pandemic.
Anderson Cooper: You're talking about encouraging hundreds of thousands of people to come to Las Vegas ... smoking,… https://t.co/d8rkLt1zZu— Lis Power (@Lis Power) 1587581394.0
Cooper said:
"You're talking about encouraging hundreds of thousands of people to come to Las Vegas ... Hundreds of thousands of people coming there in casinos, smoking, drinking, touching slot machines, breathing circulated air, doesn't that sound like a virus petri dish?"
Goodman's response?
"No what it sounds like, you're being an alarmist. I'm not. I've lived a long life. I grew up in the heart of Manhattan. I know what it's like to be on subways and in buses and crammed into elevators."
She conceded that she believed in social distancing measures but evaded the question of how to do that in a casino.
Goodman's latest appearance had people ready to fold.
Las Vegas has a 16.2% poverty rate. Many of the workers the mayor wants to turn into a coronavirus "control group"… https://t.co/KJl20iJYO8— Joy Reid (@Joy Reid) 1587584683.0
Las Vegas residents: "We did what now?" https://t.co/y1oVRUnsNS— Maggie Serota (@Maggie Serota) 1587584665.0
If "I lied on my resume" was a person https://t.co/zXsZPo2jnC— Enzzo4Ever (@Enzzo4Ever) 1587590222.0
Places I should not move to in the future: Las Vegas ✔️ https://t.co/cC72UvYic1— Daniel Cheng (@Daniel Cheng) 1587591176.0
The mayor's words were downright dangerous.
Literally - any asshole can get elected to office in America. This woman is dangerous. https://t.co/uUaCChFMRF— Meghan McCain (@Meghan McCain) 1587590662.0
A mayor who thinks they know more than public health experts. Anti intellectualism is so dangerous. There’s conse… https://t.co/VNHBHPzurz— Justin Onwenu (@Justin Onwenu) 1587586872.0
This woman needs to be removed from office immediately. By end of day. https://t.co/hmLC7vAgE1— The Hoarse Whisperer (@The Hoarse Whisperer) 1587585642.0
Oh, FFS! What is wrong with this woman? An alarmist, my arse. She is endangering her constituents, tourists...every… https://t.co/4NPEYA0urm— 💙Rapunzel™ is staying home until June 10 (@💙Rapunzel™ is staying home until June 10) 1587582490.0
With Goodman at the helm, Las Vegas is going to need a large amount of luck.