Dan Forest walks back his criticism of Roy Cooper for closing bars and restaurants

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper lacks the authority to order bars and restaurants to close down, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest said Tuesday afternoon — quickly drawing the ire of Cooper’s office, which said Forest is wrong.

Forest initially said Cooper’s order closing bars and restaurants “will devastate our economy.” But late Tuesday night, following widespread uproar directed at him, Forest walked back his comments and said he never meant to criticize the decision itself — just the way in which Cooper made and then announced it.

Wednesday morning, Forest went on a Raleigh-area conservative talk radio show hosted by KC O’Dea to further explain his stance.

“I’ve said publicly that I think the state’s doing the best they can, and the federal government’s doing the best they can,” Forest said. He later added, “I’m not challenging the decision” that Cooper made.

Cooper ordered bars and restaurants to close down, except for takeout and delivery, starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

In both his original statement and in his statements since, Forest said he does have problems with the way Cooper rolled out the announcement. He said Cooper didn’t have proper approval from the Council of State — the 10 elected officials, including Cooper and Forest, who run the executive branch of state government.

Forest’s office provided the email that Cooper sent, asking Council of State members for their approval of his plan to make it easier for people to qualify for unemployment benefits, as well as his plan to close bars and restaurants.

Forest said the majority on the council voted for the unemployment changes but against the closures. Cooper’s office didn’t contest that, but instead says he doesn’t actually need their permission to act.

Cooper’s order says he got the council’s approval for a second part of the order making it easier to qualify for unemployment benefits, but that he “reserves the right to act” on his own with regard to the restaurant closure. The order cites several laws as a basis which don’t require others’ prior approval for Cooper to act.

“The Governor is taking action to protect the health and safety of North Carolinians and does not need concurrence,” Cooper spokeswoman Sadie Weiner said in a news release. “The Governor and the Secretary of DHHS have the authority to do this under state public health and emergency powers law.”

In his radio interview Wednesday, Forest said the majority on the Council of State voted no on the restaurant closures “not because they didn’t agree with any decision related to it, just that there was no communication.”

However, it’s unclear how that explains Forest’s initial statement, on Tuesday afternoon, that questioned the wisdom of ordering bars and restaurants to close.

“His mandate will devastate our economy, shutter many small businesses, and leave many people unemployed, especially in the rural areas of our state where food supply is already critical,” Forest said in a news release.

Cooper’s spokeswoman chided Forest for that at the time.

“It’s one thing to disagree, it’s another to create a chaotic situation in the middle of a pandemic,” Weiner said.

Behind the war of words between Forest and Cooper is the fact that they’re running against one another for the chance to be governor after the 2020 elections.

Cooper, a Democrat, is finishing up his first term as governor. Forest, a Republican, is finishing his second term as lieutenant governor.

Some restaurant owners welcomed the order to close, for financial reasons. They said Cooper’s order would make it easier for them to qualify for federal aid.

The News & Observer reported that Elizabeth Turnbull, who co-owns the Durham restaurant COPA with her husband Roberto Matos, said: “We weren’t sure if a voluntary order would be enough (to be eligible for relief). We really feel it’s important it becomes a mandate.”

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This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 6:39 PM.