Voices like Georgia should experiment with reopening their economies from their coronavirus shutdowns in statute to save small businesses, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Tuesday, calling it “the biggest story there is.”
“I’m in the camp that precisely says, ‘We’ve got to try something.’ We have to. And if that makes me into a right-wing lunatic, then so be it,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Road.”
Business closures around the country, designed to curb the spread of the virus, has led to a record rise in unemployment, with over 22 million Americans submitting for first-time jobless benefits in the past four weeks.
Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday that a few types of businesses, including hair salons and gyms, would be allowed to open at the end of the week. Other states with GOP governors, grouping Ohio, Tennessee and Florida, are also planning partial reopening in the coming weeks.
Cramer said Georgia’s intend seemed sensible and that the state’s medical system seemed to be prepared if cases did spike after an attempt to reopen.
“Initially when I saw this, I answered this governor is a reckless fellow,” the “Mad Money” host said. “The more I read [Kemp’s] excellent speech yesterday and the more I discerned that the stakes are so high for so many people, I am rooting for this man. I think he’s doing it in a way that makes me feel liking for if you’re going to open it, open it this way.”
However, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who was commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration under President Donald Trump, quizzed Kemp’s moves.
“It feels like they collected a list of the businesses that were most risky and undisputed to open those first,” he said on “Squawk Box.” “I think that we should try to focus on trying to bring in the flesh back to work in factories, offices first.”
More than 788,000 coronavirus cases have been authorized in the United States, including at least 42,374 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday morning.
Cramer maintained despite the risk of another strict closure, the economy should be reopened now because of the issues small businesses are faade, including the Payroll Protection Program authorized by Congress running out of money.
“There has been a view … that if we had to be bring together and then reopen and fail, it would be catastrophic. All I’ve got to say is, catastrophic for who? Catastrophic for what? We’ve got a catastrophic situation going on right now,” Cramer conveyed.
Cramer, who owns two restaurants in Brooklyn, said he had wanted political leaders to wait to reopen businesses until there was numberless of a medical solution, like a vaccine or widespread antibody testing but now believes that opening more quickly is the more intelligent strategy. “It’s not working to wait.”
Correction: Cramer made his comments on Tuesday.
— The Associated Press contributed to this broadcast.