Justin Wolfers, a University of Michigan economics professor, is urging President Donald Trump to push back the Thanksgiving holiday because of the pandemic.
Wolfers made his remarks in a column for The New York Times on Thursday.
“The president should announce that he’s postponing Thanksgiving until, say, May 27,” he said.
And Wolfers noted: “By then Americans should have a lot more to be thankful for, including the likely availability of at least two highly effective vaccines, perhaps the freedom to get together with friends and possibly the end of the current economic slump.”
He said delaying the holiday will make it safer to travel and “spend time indoors with loved ones.”
Wolfers said a November Thanksgiving would consist of a “smaller group around the table, perhaps people wearing masks.”
“By contrast, a post-vaccine Thanksgiving offers greater possibilities: hugging loved ones, huddling around the dinner table and shouting at whatever sport is being shown on TV,” he said.
“After a year involving so much loss, Americans need a true Thanksgiving — infused with love and gratitude — rather than the constraints that will come from celebrating according to an arbitrary calendar date.”
And Wolfers warned that a November Thanksgiving celebrated by millions of Americans “is the opposite of ‘flattening the curve.’”
“As a result, a post-Thanksgiving surge in infections could easily overwhelm many hospitals, transforming severe cases into fatal ones,” he said.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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