President Donald Trump does not take well to criticism. Amidst the ongoing Coronavirus crisis in the U.S., he is continuing to consistently focus on himself and his public image above basic concerns of public health. Case in point: this Tuesday morning, shortly after New York’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo insisted that the spectacles of Trump’s daily Coronavirus press briefings had “no value,” Trump rushed to Twitter with a desperate, paranoid, wannabe dictatorial attempted defense of his actions. As if he thinks he’s some kind of king, he insisted that New York would have no “Independence” amidst the crisis.
Facts First: The President does not have "total" authority over coronavirus restrictions. There is no legislation that explicitly gives the President the power to override states' public health measures. https://t.co/AVpSerWBHb
— CNN (@CNN) April 14, 2020
He tweeted:
‘Cuomo’s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state’s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won’t happen!’
Cuomo’s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state’s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won’t happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2020
There is no indication that Governor Cuomo has actually been calling “hourly” and “begging for everything.” Trump, however, has a documented habit of making up private interactions with his political opponents in which they supposedly showed him some kind of grand deference. In reality, Cuomo has pointed to his own state’s comprehensive action to get residents to stay at home amidst the pandemic and thereby keep the virus from spreading, and it’s state authorities and the National Guard — which has been itself managed by state authorities throughout the crisis — that have developed much of the capacity to care for those struggling.
TRUMP, March 13: "No, I don't take responsibility at all."
TRUMP, April 13: "When somebody is the President of the United States, the authority is total." pic.twitter.com/bIzVMb9rtE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2020
Despite his own history of deferring responsibility for the Coronavirus response onto the states — although it’s unclear what on earth that federal resources are actually there for if not for state usage amidst crises — Trump has taken to insisting this week that he’s the final authority on reopening the economy after Coronavirus-induced social distancing. That claim is, simply, not true.
Cuomo commented:
‘It’s frightening! This is the last place we should be, this crazy politics, this absurd positioning when we’re talking about life and death… it’s absurd that we have to deal with this!’
And yet, the president continues. New York has suffered more than 10,000 deaths from the Coronavirus, and the president’s priorities seem to rest with mocking their governor.
Check out Twitter’s response below…
