President Donald Trump has a lot of opinions about a lot of things and in a recent interview the president called North Carolina by name as a state that he believes is being kept too locked down.  

As states across the country have attempted to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, they have tried a wide range of approaches and Trump said in an interview with Steve Hilton on Fox News that North Carolina’s strategy was too draconian.

One of Trump’s constant comments in recent months has been that Democratic leaders – such as NC Governor Roy Cooper – want to use the virus as an excuse to destroy the economy in an effort to prevent his reelection in November.

“The truth is we were doing so good,” the president said. “We had the greatest economy ever – in the world, not just here. We had the greatest economy.”

Trump said that then the “China virus” struck 188 countries.

Trump began by talking about school closures but then broadened the conversation to closures generally. He said he’d just left Pennsylvania, where everything was virtually shut down, and then he added a special condemnation for the Tar Heel state’s approach to the pandemic.

“North Carolina – they have it all closed up,” Trump said. “By the way, their numbers aren’t any better than other states – in many cases they’re worse. But, you know, they’ll probably open up everything November 4th.”

That, of course, is the day after the election.

Trump added that Democratic leaders were currently doing “anything they can to make the economy as bad as possible.”

Trump said that was difficult for them to do so because, at its heart, the current economy that he has created is still so vibrant.

North Carolina has been one of the strictest states in its lockdown status. For example, this week movie theaters across the country started opening back up but they are still closed in this state. Gyms and fitness centers are open in 44 states but not in North Carolina. According to Cooper’s executive orders the Greensboro Coliseum that holds 23,500 people can have 10 people attend an event and the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte which holds 75,523 people can have 25 people at a game.

The Republican controlled North Carolina legislature passed a number of bills to open the state up to more in line with other states in the region and Cooper vetoed all of them.