The lieutenant governor of Idaho appeared in a new video in which she is holding a gun and a Bible and criticizing, along with other state officials, coronavirus-related restrictions in the state.
Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, a Republican, was one of several people to speak during the two-minute video. She said, "We recognize that all of us are by nature, 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 securing safety."
As McGeachin was speaking, she held a Bible and then placed a pistol on top of it.
Right after McGeachin spoke, former state Rep. Karey Hanks, a Republican, said, "The fact that a pandemic may or may not be occurring changes nothing about the meaning or intent of the state constitution and the preservation of our inalienable rights."
The video was posted to YouTube by a libertarian group called the Idaho Freedom Foundation, The Washington Post reported.
Idaho's Republican Gov. Brad Little signed an order this week to increase restrictions statewide because of a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations related to it.
Idaho has seen more than 62,000 cases of the virus and 615 deaths, numbers that put the state in the bottom third nationwide. There are currently about 33,000 active cases, however, the 23rd-highest total in the country.
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