LOS ANGELES, CA – Anyone paying attention to Tesla CEO Elon Musk throughout 2020, namely during the period of the pandemic onward, has likely noticed that he is not a huge fan of some of the lockdown measures.
BREAKING: Elon Musk: Bye, California, I’ve Moved To Texas | The Daily Wire https://t.co/8PJTuBmvxB
— Max Stone (@imaxstone) December 8, 2020
After months of being critical of the mandates and executive orders that have been pushed through in California, Musk has finally confirmed that he is leaving the state to move to Texas.
There have been subtle moves by Musk throughout recent months that he may be looking to leave California, such as the sale of properties owned in the state.
But since April, Musk has been rather vocal about his stance on lockdowns.
FREE AMERICA NOW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2020
Comments made by Musk in April showed his frustration with not only his production plants operating in California being adversely affected but also what he coined as being an affront to American freedoms:
“We are a bit worried about not being able to resume production in the Bay Area, and that should be identified as a serious risk.
“The expansion of shelter-in-place, or as we call it, forcibly imprisoning people in their homes, against all their constitutional rights, is, in my opinion, breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong, and not why people came to America and built this country.”
Give people their freedom back! https://t.co/iG8OYGaVZ0
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2020
The diatribe coming from Musk back in April was not the run-of-the-mill talking points being spread by other CEOs. But then again, Musk is not exactly run-of-the-mill.
Musk noted a sentiment that was a common talking point in April, and still today, that if someone wants to stay home and avoid infection, then they are more than capable of doing so.
Musk stresses that, although people can stay home, the government should not mandate everyone to stay home:
“If somebody wants to stay in the house that’s great. They should be allowed to stay in the house and they should not be compelled to leave. But to say that they cannot leave their house and they will be arrested if they do…this is fascist.
“This is not democratic. This is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom.”
The choice of Texas as being his new home state is also not surprising since back in April, Musk was applauding the Lone Star State for allowing businesses to reopen ahead of states like California.
Bravo Texas! https://t.co/cVkDewRqGv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2020
Back in May, Musk was forced to shut down his sole U.S. car factory due to California’s shelter-in-place orders that were enacted at the time.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk brought both legal action and civil disobedience into the mix following that matter:
“The auto executive later filed a lawsuit against Alameda County, home of the Tesla factory, and defied local authorities by proceeding to reopen the plant, daring them to arrest him. The county eventually blessed the plant’s reopening and didn’t pursue an arrest.”
In October, Musk began the process of backing up his proverbial bags by filing paperwork to have his personal foundation from California moved over to Austin, Texas.
Watch: Texas Governor calls lockdowns ‘overrated’, says there will be ‘no more’ in Texas
November 24, 2020
AUSTIN, TX – It seems that, according to politicians and state governments, the best way to stop the spread of COVID-19 is to enact crippling lockdowns. But, one governor is arguing that lockdowns are not the solution to the far reaching pandemic.
On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott joined “Fox & Friends” to discuss the progress being made in COVID vaccines and the danger of lockdowns. While speaking on the topic Abbott claimed that “lockdowns are overrated” and declared that Texas will not have anymore of them.
While Texas does still have some restrictions in place, they are a far cry from the invasive policies doled out in other states. The state’s restrictions include a limitation to the number of people at social gatherings, a mask mandate, and limitations on restaurant capacity.
Specifically, Texas has a statewide mask mandate and gatherings of more than ten people are prohibited. Restaurants may only operate at up to 75% capacity and bars cannot run at more than 50% capacity. Notably, there are no restrictions to the number of people within a house of worship.
When asked why giving more freedom to residents was a better option than lockdowns Abbott said:
“Along the course of dealing with the pandemic, we’ve all learned what works and what does not work. And one thing that government does not need to do is to micromanage the lives of everybody.”
The governor then said that the guidelines set in place lead to “safe practices” without “micromanaging” people:
“We set broad-based guidelines for people to follow that lead to safe practices without micromanaging it. Another thing that I’ve made clear, Brian, and that is no more lockdowns in the state of Texas,”
Abbott also claimed that the value of lockdowns is “misplaced”:
“And I will tell you this: the value that symptom people place upon lockdowns is misplaced.”
He continued:
“If you lock people down, it’s going to put them into confined areas where they can transmit COVID just as easily without protocols, and what we’ve found in Texas as well as elsewhere is one of the leading places where people do transmit COVID are in these private gatherings.”
The governor finished his statement by simply saying:
“And so, lockdowns are overvalued.”
Governor Abbott’s method of allowing Americans to choose where they travel seems to be more effective than politicians dictating the lives of citizens. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the past seven days, Texas has had a lower number of cases per capita than states with harsh lockdowns still in effect.
In states like Minnesota and Wisconsin where nonessential travel is strictly discouraged there have been over three times the number of cases than in Texas. Texas also has a lesser number of cases than Illinois, a state that is attempting to end the celebration of Thanksgiving out of COVID.
The results are in and the statistics don’t lie, a light handed approach to slowing COVID works far better for the health and happiness of residents. Hopefully, other states will follow in the lead of Governor Abbott.
Watch the clip here:
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