Now Reynolds is undergoing a modified quarantine plan after being exposed to a top aide to Vice President Mike Pence who tested positive for COVID-19 last week. It’s quite a turn for Reynolds, whose White House visit was intended to reassure Americans that the spike in outbreaks at meatpacking plants wouldn’t disrupt the nation’s food supply chain.
Of course, part of ensuring those meatpacking plants continue to be operational is a tag-team effort by Trump and Reynolds to make sure certain employees at those plants don’t have the same option to stay home if they don’t feel it’s safe to go to work. Trump finally pulled the trigger on the Defense Production Act at the end of April to force meatpacking plants to remain open no matter how dangerous the working conditions were. Around the same time, Reynolds announced she would strip unemployment benefits from workers in the state who declined to return to work. In other words, “endanger your life or starve,” as one employment attorney put it. Continue reading.