Over 35,000 Americans are dead because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and President Donald Trump’s priorities remain with belittling his political opponents who’ve dared to challenge his administration’s response. This Friday, he launched into an angry Twitter tirade in which he insisted that New York’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo should employ “Less talk and more action!” At his daily Coronavirus-related press conference this Friday, a reporter asked Cuomo about the president’s remarks, and the governor insisted in response that Trump should, essentially, stop watching television and rage-tweeting about it while Americans suffer and die.
Gov. Cuomo on Trump: "He's doing nothing … All he's doing is walking in front of the parade."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 17, 2020
It’s remarkable that Trump has gone to such self-serving lengths that Cuomo’s sentiment is something that would even need to be said in the first place. He told reporters:
‘First of all, if he’s sitting at home watching TV, maybe he should get up and go to work, right? Second, let’s keep emotion and politics out of this, and personal ego, if we can, because this is about the people, it’s about our job, and let’s try to focus on that… I have said repeatedly that when we were fighting for the additional capacity for a hospital system that the president moved very quickly and I applauded him for it… I have said it a number of times, what am I supposed to do send a bouquet of flowers?’
Watch below:
Trump, forever the egomaniac, probably would say that flowers weren’t enough, either.
Gov. Cuomo: "I have said repeatedly that when were fighting for the additional hospital capacity for our hospital system, that the President moved very quickly and I applauded him for it."
"I have said it a number of times, what am I supposed to do send a bouquet of flowers?"
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 17, 2020
Trump’s complaints about Cuomo hinged on the state supposedly taking up too many resources. Well over 16,000 New Yorkers are dead because of the Coronavirus, and Trump’s focused on penny-pinching against those in the state who’ve dared to ask for assistance.
Trump belted out on Twitter:
‘Governor Cuomo should spend more time ‘doing’ and less time ‘complaining’. Get out there and get the job done. Stop talking! We built you thousands of hospital beds that you didn’t need or use, gave large numbers of Ventilators that you should have had, and helped you with testing that you should be doing. We have given New York far more money, help and equipment than any other state, by far, & these great men & women who did the job never hear you say thanks. Your numbers are not good. Less talk and more action!’
….testing that you should be doing. We have given New York far more money, help and equipment than any other state, by far, & these great men & women who did the job never hear you say thanks. Your numbers are not good. Less talk and more action!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2020
In fact, Cuomo noted, projections from the White House Coronavirus task force itself have been the basis for many policy decisions like medical supply distribution. Cuomo didn’t make the numbers up out of thin air. It’s not some conspiracy to hoard supplies and make Trump look bad. It’s a pandemic, and preparation is crucial, although that concept seems foreign to Trump, who’s always desperate for the best public image possible.
Gov. Cuomo on Trump: "He's doing nothing … All he's doing is walking in front of the parade."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 17, 2020
Trump has also whined about states’ work to exercise the power that they’ve had all along and direct the reopening of their own economies after Coronavirus-induced social distancing measures.
Cuomo mockingly noted:
‘I didn’t need the President of the United States to tell me I’m the governor.’
Before admitting that he’d be leaving final decisions up to the states — which is the way it’s always been and not some new development — Trump had claimed that the president has “total authority,” but the president is not a dictator.
Cuomo: "'It's up to the states' to reopen. By the way it was always up to the states. What, are you going to grant me what the Constitution gave me before you were born? It's called the 10th Amendment. I didn't need the President of the United States to tell me I'm the governor."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 17, 2020
