Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves Facing Backlash After Saying It Was “A Great Day To Not Be In Jackson” Amid Water Crisis

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Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves made fun of the ongoing water crisis in Jackson on Friday, just a day after the state lifted a weeks-long boil water advisory, that left more than 150,000 people in the capital city without clean water in their homes.

“I’ve got to tell you it is a great day to be in Hattiesburg. It’s also, as always, a great day to not be in Jackson,” Reeves said, as he spoke at a groundbreaking event in the southern Mississippi city on Friday. “I feel like I should take off my emergency management director hat and leave it in the car and take off my public works director hat and leave it in the car.”

The governor’s comments drew swift backlash online with people blasting Reeves for making light of a public health emergency that has disproportionately impacted people of color. For nearly seven weeks, Jackson residents — about 82.5% of whom are Black — were forced to boil what came out of their faucets because of concerns that the water was contaminated and could cause illness. The crisis intensified in late August when the city’s main water treatment facility started to fail, forcing workers to adjust treatment processes. As a result, many residents were left with no or low water pressure in their homes for days.

“In the most disgraceful Governor sweepstakes, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves is a winner,” Sherrilyn Ifill, a civil rights attorney and former president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, tweeted.

“I think we can officially say that Tate Reeves, Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott are the new Axis of Evil,” another person said.

Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/stefficao/tate-reeves-jackson-mississippi-water-crisis

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