Tucker: What happens to New York City matters to the rest of us
NYC setting up coronavirus quarantine checkpoints.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is treating residents like "refugees in a warzone," even as lifelong New Yorkers flee the Big Apple in droves, Tucker Carlson said Wednesday.
"Today, de Blasio announced that he plans to encircle the entire city with military-style checkpoints, not to stop violent criminals, but to prevent people from visiting from other places," the "Tucker Carlson Tonight" host said. "There was no public discussion of this ahead of time, there was no debate. De Blasio just decreed it."
DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES NYC CORONAVIRUS CHECKPOINTS
De Blasio announced Wednesday that he had appointed the New York City Sheriff's Office to oversee coronavirus checkpoints at various points of entry into the city, where visitors will be reminded of the mandatory 14-day quarantine that applies to travelers from states with high infection rates.
"Starting today, we're going to do something new in New York City," De Blasio told reporters. "We will have checkpoints at key entry points to the city. Travelers coming in from those states will be given information about the quarantine. They will be reminded it is required, not optional. They will be reminded that failure to quarantine is a violation of state law, and it comes with serious penalties. ... Fines can be as high as $10,000."
NYC HEALTH COMMISSIONER RESIGNS
The mayor's announcement came one day after the city Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot resigned and criticized the de Blasio for keeping health experts in the "background" of coronavirus response.
"They've decided to treat taxpayers of New York like refugees in a war zone with checkpoints," said Carlson, who added that the policy "doesn't make any sense at all."
"There is no science behind it," he said, "but the one thing you know for sure is, it's your fault. Not his, yours. Your failures are a severe violation of the law, says Bill de Blasio. You'll be punished if you disobey. You are bad."
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Carlson added the move sends a troubling message to New Yorkers and reinforces what many were forced to learn as a result of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's failure to protect nursing home residents.
"The people who make the worst decisions ... never face consequences for those decisions," the host said. "Only you do, so shut up and show us your papers, peasant."
Fox News' Evie Fordham contributed to this report.