New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Praises Trump's Coronavirus Response: 'His Team Has Been On It'
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo personally thanked President Donald Trump on Tuesday for the federal government’s efforts to help his state deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
After initially criticizing the president for his response to the spread of COVID-19, Cuomo was complimentary at a news conference in Albany and told reporters that Trump’s team is “on it” in regard to helping those affected by the virus.
“New Yorkers will do everything they can to be good partners with the federal government,” the Democrat said. “I think the president was 100 percent sincere in saying that that he wanted to work together in partnership and a spirit of cooperation.
“I can tell you the actions he has taken evidence that. His team has been on it. I know a team when they’re on it, and I know a team when they’re not on it,” the Democrat added.
“His team is on it. They’ve been responsive late at night, early in the morning, and they’ve, thus far, been doing everything that they can do,” Cuomo said. “And I want to say thank you, and want to say that I appreciate it.
“They will have nothing but cooperation and partnership from the state of New York.”
Cuomo made the comments after he had a conversation with Trump earlier Tuesday, which followed a very public disagreement over the federal government’s role in helping states cope with the national emergency.
Cuomo asked the president in a tweet Monday to “Deploy the Army Corps of Engineers to build temporary medical facilities” in New York, adding, “The federal gov’t must act.”
President Trump: Deploy the Army Corps of Engineers to build temporary medical facilities, so that when hospitals are overwhelmed, we can move people into the temporary facilities.
It’s only a matter of time before our state’s ICU beds fill up.
The federal gov’t must act.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 16, 2020
The president tweeted Monday that he had held “a very good tele-conference with Nation’s Governors” but that Cuomo needed to “do more.”
Cuomo responded, “Happy to do your job, too. Just give me control of the Army Corps of Engineers and I’ll take it from there.”
Happy to do your job, too.
Just give me control of the Army Corps of Engineers and I’ll take it from there.https://t.co/nfjZ8xiRL4 https://t.co/YNvdHC3Xz3
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 16, 2020
Trump asked Cuomo on Twitter Tuesday to “keep politics out of it.”
Cuomo wants “all states to be treated the same.” But all states aren’t the same. Some are being hit hard by the Chinese Virus, some are being hit practically not at all. New York is a very big “hotspot”, West Virginia has, thus far, zero cases. Andrew, keep politics out of it….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2020
Cuomo stated at his Tuesday news conference, after speaking with the president, that there is no place for “hypersensitivity about politics” in battling the pandemic.
“We’re not Democrats and we’re not Republicans, we are Americans at the end of the day. That’s who we are and that’s who we are when we are at our best. So this hypersensitivity about politics and reading every comment and wanting to pit one against the other, there’s no time for this,” he said.
“The president is doing the right thing and offering to step up with New York, and I appreciate it,” Cuomo added.
He also said the Trump administration is “ready and willing to help … especially on the hospital capacity issue.”
New York has become a hotspot for the coronavirus, with more reported cases of the virus than any other state.
The New York Post reported 432 cases were confirmed in New York overnight from Monday to Tuesday, bringing the state’s total of reported cases to 1,374.
New York City itself reported 187 new cases, for a total of 644.
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