Anderson Cooper Presses Las Vegas Mayor

Anderson Cooper, an anchor for CNN recently carried out an interview with the Mayor of Las Vegas, Carolyn Goodman that has since gone viral due to the Mayor’s repulsive position towards reopening the Las Vegas Strip and its casinos.

The Mayor, who went so far as calling the closures of the cities casinos “total insanity” stated that if they were to allow Las Vegas to reopen, that she would be fine with seeing it’s as a “control group”. That comment resulted in Anderson pointing out that currently, there is not a cure for the virus, nor has a vaccine been created.

It took little time before the interview, which shows Cooper’s frustration, to begin being picked up on social media outlets with many reacting negatively as a result. It even saw Jimmy Kimmel, himself a former Las Vegas resident, going as far as called the Mayor an embarrassment to his hometown.

Las Vegas Hit Hard

While Goodman did state that additional testing is needed, that contact tracing and more PPE equipment is needed prior to reopening, when asked what was being done by her as Mayor to assist with the efforts in locating and acquiring those items, she stated it is not her responsibility. The Mayor also stated that it is the responsibility of business in Vegas to determine acceptable social distancing policies and that her time is spent trying to get the people of Las Vegas back to work.

Goodman further believes she herself contracted the virus in January and if possible, will donate her plasma in an effort to help others currently infected with the virus.The city of Las Vegas has felt the impact harder than some in Nevada after its governor ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses including casinos. It saw over 300,000 losing their jobs, albeit temporarily and that impacts the state’s unemployment department as it tries to process the application for benefits by all those who lost their income.

The problem for Goodman, although not a problem for the safety of those who would be forced to place themselves in harm’s way, is that the majority of casinos that make up the Vegas Strip fall under the control of Clark County. That puts reopening Las Vegas out of the Mayor’s control and the decision into the hands of the governor.

Dina Titus is a representative of Nevada’s First Congressional District, whose area includes the Strip stated in response to Goodman’s comments: “We have to listen to the scientists, and right now they tell us we must continue to stay at home as much as possible. Businesses in Las Vegas will only be able to recover if we take this pandemic seriously. The Mayor does not represent the Las Vegas Strip, literally or figuratively.”