The Lieutenant Governor of Idaho has been filmed with a handgun and a bible in the front seat of her car as part of a video in which state lawmakers question the existence of the coronavirus.
Janice McGeachin featured in the video in which those taking part pledged to ignore any restrictions imposed by the state as part of a ‘declaration’ against coronavirus measures.
The film, which was recorded earlier this month by a libertarian group called the Idaho Freedom Foundation, sees various Idaho Republican lawmakers all taking turns to read lines from a declaration which claims to have been ‘ratified by the people of Idaho October 1st, 2020.’
Idaho lawmakers including Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin appeared to question the existence of the coronavirus pandemic
McGeachin sits in her truck and smiles as she holds the bible and takes out a handgun before placing it on top of the book
McGeachin sits in her truck and smiles as she holds the bible and takes out a handgun before placing it on top of the book.
‘We recognize that all of us by nature are free and equal and have certain inalienable rights among which are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing happiness and protecting safety,’ she says.
Alongside McGeachin, Republican state representatives, Tammy Nichols, Dorothy Moon, Bryan Zollinger, Christy Zito, Chad Christensen, Priscilla Giddings, Tony Wisniewski, Heather Scott, Ron Nate and Karey Hanks and all pictured each reading a line to protest against the COVID rules.
In the declaration, the Republicans claim ‘the emergency orders are infringing on the rights of Idahoans’ and ‘question whether a pandemic may or may not be occurring.’
Dustin Hurst, the group’s vice president, said many viewers were ‘missing the point of the video.’
‘The aim wasn’t to question the pandemic, but rather to reaffirm that our rights exist pandemic or not,’ he said to The Washington Post. ‘Some public officials act as if they can restrict rights without consequence or pushback. That’s just not how this works.’
It demands ‘an end to the emergency orders issued by state and local government officials’ as well as the ‘restoration of our constitutionally protected rights.’
McGeachin has been a critic of the Governor of Idaho Brad Little’s pandemic orders and has attended several rallies to protest them
McGeachin has been a critic of the Governor of Idaho Brad Little’s pandemic orders and has attended several rallies to protest them according to Newsweek.
In contrast to Little’s phased reopening strategy, McGeachin has consistently argued for a looser approach despite the current rise in infections.
Meanwhile, Idaho is currently experiencing record-breaking numbers of new daily cases in October.
There have been 63,195 infections in the state with 618 deaths.
The latest figures on October 30th shows an increase of 998 new infections.
Citing a rise in average daily coronavirus cases, Gov. Brad Little announced he will keep Idaho in Stage 4 of his COVID-19 reopen plan during a press conference at the start of October
On Monday, Little announced he would again limit gatherings of 50 or more people.
‘I sincerely hope that some people have passed the point of thinking the pandemic is not real or is not a big deal, or that their personal actions don’t really affect anything,’ Little said during a news conference on Monday.
Little announced that the state would move back to Stage 3 of its coronavirus reopening plan.
That phase allows businesses to remain open and in-person church services to continue but limits gatherings of 50 people or more.
McGeachin pushed back on her Facebook page, saying she was ‘disappointed’ in the governor’s decision.
‘Our state is moving toward more top-down control over our businesses and citizens,’ she wrote. ‘We should be supporting Main Street right now, not adopting the draconian tactics of liberal municipalities that have only proven to make matters worse.’
McGeachin, 57, previously served in the Idaho state legislature for a decade before working on a statewide committee to elect President Trump and serving as a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Two years ago, she was elected Idaho’s first female lieutenant governor.