Economist Stephen Moore, who’s on President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force for reopening the country, compared those protesting stay-at-home orders in Wisconsin to Rosa Parks. 

In a YouTube video posted by a libertarian think tank, Moore said that he was working on a “drive-in” protest in Wisconsin. The state is currently under stay-at-home orders issued by Gov. Tony Evers (D) until May 26. 

“They’re going to shut down the Capitol. Shh. Don’t tell anybody,” Moore said of those protesting the order.

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“This is a great time for civil disobedience. We need to be the Rosa Parks here and protest against these government injustices,” he added. 

In an interview with the Washington Post on Friday, Moore made similar comments. 

“I think there’s a boiling point that has been reached and exceeded,” he said. “I call these people the modern-day Rosa Parks — they are protesting against injustice and a loss of liberties.”

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Moore faced criticism for his comments. 

Scott Huffman, a Democratic congressional candidate from North Carolina, said, “Could you have imagined the outcome if Rosa brought a gun to the bus?” 

Bill Kristol, a conservative commentator, said Moore’s comments were “at once strikingly stupid and deeply offensive.”

Despite this, Moore has maintained that the Trump administration is taking too long to reopen the economy. 

“I actually think we should have started this a week or two ago,” Moore said. “I think we lean way too much in the direction of keeping the economy shut down to try to save every life, not realizing that we’re causing huge hardship for citizens, again, people at the bottom and businesses, and we’re going to suffer a big loss of living standards because of this.”

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