Old North News

North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn has hailed the government stimulus program, saying it is necessary to help businesses affected by the COVID-19 shutdown. 

“It’s no secret to all of you that so many businesses were attacked and destroyed, by no fault of your own, because of government-mandated shutdowns. I think that’s tragic. And so I think it’s absolutely appropriate that the federal government has created stimulus programs to help,” he said, Xpress reported.

Cawthorn went on to say that the stimulus checks should however be set aside for people who are unemployed. He also opposed the raising of the minimum wage to $15.

Cawthorn recently co-sponsored a bill that would prohibit use of federal funds to establish, implement or enforce requirements forcing an individual to wear a mask or be vaccinated. Asked why, he said forcing vaccines had future repercussions.

"I don’t think [the vaccine] should be required and I think it was rushed. I believe it will be very healthy and that [federal vaccine development program] Operation Warp Speed did a great job, but I personally will not be getting a vaccine because of my 98 percent survival rate. If we start forcing people to get vaccines, we start walking a very dangerous road in the future," he said, as reported by Xpress.

According to N.C. Department of Health and Human Services data, as of Jan. 29, a total of 7.5 percent of North Carolina residents had received their first dosage of the two-dose vaccine and herd immunity may be achieved when 70-90 percent of the population is vaccinated, meaning economies may still be on hold for some time.