CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin and Rick Santelli debate Covid lockdowns

‘Squawk Box’ co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin and CNBC bond maven Rick Santelli engaged in a heated debate on coronavirus restrictions on Friday, a back-and-forth that reflected the current division between many Americans throughout the pandemic and the presidential race mockery.

The intense disagreement over lockdowns between Sorkin and Santelli, which was also a central theme in the November election, came after the release of a weaker-than-expected November employment report. The slowest pace of growth in non-farm payrolls since April has coincided with a sharp increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations across the country, which has led many governors and other local officials to reimpose measures to virus attenuation. There are now more than 100,000 people in the United States hospitalized with Covid-19.

Santelli – a seasoned business figure and former bond trader, who generally reports for CNBC from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange – suggested that U.S. policymakers should reconsider the balance between public health restrictions, especially on restaurants, by allowing greater economic activity. He alluded to recent controversies involving politicians such as Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of California, who took the heat for attending a birthday dinner for a friend at a fancy restaurant on the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Therefore, there is actually, and should be, an ongoing debate as to why a parking lot for a big box store, like my home, is crowded. Not a single open parking space,” he said. Santelli said. “Why are these people safer than a restaurant with plexiglass? I just don’t understand. And I think there are a million of these questions that could be asked.”

“I think it’s really sad that when we look at the service sector and all the talk we’ve had about job losses, this particular dynamic isn’t being studied more, isn’t working anymore, we’re not putting more people in one and try to find ways that these service workers and employers can all come back in a safer way, ”Santelli said. “You can’t tell me that closing, which is the simplest answer, is necessarily the only answer.”

Sorkin strongly rebuffed Santelli’s remarks, noting that public health experts largely agree that eating in indoor restaurants, where customers have to take off their masks to eat and drink, carries a much higher risk. of coronavirus transmission than shopping in a retail store. store where all customers and employees wear masks.

Sorkin, also a financial columnist for the New York Times and editor of DealBook, said he wanted to remind viewers where the scientific community is, with many experts now recommending targeted restrictions on risky activities, such as indoor bars and restaurants. , while allowing schools to hold face-to-face lessons, for example.

“The difference between a big box retailer and a restaurant, or frankly even a church, is so different it’s amazing,” Sorkin said, before being interrupted by a rabid Santelli who said, “I’m not disagree.”

“You can have your thoughts, and I can have mine,” Santelli argued.

“It’s science. I’m sorry,” Sorkin replied. “It’s science. If you wear a mask, that’s another story.”

“Five hundred people in a Lowe’s are no safer than 150 people in a restaurant that has 600. I don’t believe so. Sorry,” Santelli said.

The exchange between Sorkin and Santelli comes about nine months after governors and other local officials in the United States began to impose economic restrictions they said were aimed at slowing the spread of the virus and easing pressure on hospitals inundated with patients.

At least 276,406 Americans have died from Covid-19, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Cumulative cases in the United States now exceed 14.1 million. Cases and deaths in the United States represent about one-fifth of the global total.

The United States on Thursday recorded a record second day of 2800 coronavirus deaths and the worst day for new cases: 217,664. The seven-day average of daily new cases of 179,473 was also a record. As of Thursday, 100,667 people were hospitalized with Covid-19, the bulk of the pandemic, according to the COVID Tracking Project, run by reporters from The Atlantic.

Significant portions of the country were divided during the pandemic, much of it along party lines, with President Donald Trump and Republican-leaning voters favoring fewer public health restrictions than Democrats. In the spring, Trump repeatedly stated that he wanted to “reopen” the economy and that he had frequently taken positions at odds with his own health advisers and at odds with scientific findings.

President-elect Joe Biden has sharply criticized Trump’s response to the pandemic, making him a touchstone of his campaign. He chose to forgo large gatherings, sometimes choosing instead to host socially distant drive-in events, while Trump held open-air speeches with supporters sitting next to each other.

In the weeks since the news agencies proclaimed the winner of the election, Biden continued to contrast Trump on the coronavirus. In an interview with CNN that aired Thursday, Biden said he plans to ask every American to wear a mask for 100 days to help control the spread.

Trump, who contracted Covid-19 and recovered shortly before the November election, still fails to concede to Biden, falsely claiming electoral fraud, a claim denied even by his own attorney general and the Justice Department .

While the US economy has improved since its early devastation in April and May, when the toughest trade restrictions were in place, millions of Americans remain unemployed. Some industries, such as autos and housing, posted a better-than-expected recovery, while the travel and hospitality sectors continue to suffer.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, for his part, noted throughout the pandemic that a strong economic recovery is not independent of the public health situation in the United States. “The way forward for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will largely depend on our success in containing the virus,” Powell said in late June.

“A full recovery is unlikely until people are convinced that it is safe to re-engage in a wide range of activities,” the senior central banker added in his remarks at the time to the services committee. House finances. “The way forward will also depend on political action taken at all levels of government to provide relief and sustain the recovery for as long as needed.”