New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is pushing back at CNN’s Jake Tapper as the governor is defending his handling of the coronavirus outbreak and insisting President Donald Trump is to blame for the spread of the virus.
During Thursday’s phone interview on CNN, Cuomo was asked about Tapper’s criticism of his presumed “victory tour” as multiple other states battle coronavirus impacts similar to what New York faced at the beginning of the pandemic.
Despite Tapper’s claim, Cuomo insists, “We’re not celebrating at all,” Cuomo told CNN host Brooke Baldwin.
The governor continued, “That was Mr. Tapper’s misconstruction in his own political interpretation … No, not at all. What we’re saying is New Yorkers did step up and did flatten the curve. That is a fact.”
Baldwin went on to discuss the “New York Tough” poster New York officials released about its handling of the coronavirus. While it does note many of the state’s efforts to combat the pandemic, Baldwin pointed out that the poster did not include one of the most significant points: New York’s death rate.
“One of the points my colleague Jake had pointed out is there’s a lot in this poster that you all put out,” Baldwin said. “But it doesn’t also mention how there are more deaths than any other state than New York. Do you think the poster was a mistake in the midst of all this?”
“No,” Cuomo responded.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 32,000 people have died in the state of New York, alone. The state still has the highest death rate far surpassing any other state in the U.S. However, Cuomo has defended the poster’s information.
See Cuomo’s remarks below:
Gov. Cuomo goes on CNN the hour before @JakeTapper's show to pick a fight with Tapper and tell him how to do his job. Cuomo says it was Tapper’s "own misconstruction and his own political interpretation” and says "Tapper should say Trump is to blame” for what happened in NY. pic.twitter.com/WrBduHd3HH
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) July 16, 2020
He also suggested that Tapper should place blame on Trump for failing to mitigate the spread of the virus during the first months of the outbreak.
Cuomo said, “Tapper’s point, as you just heard from the CDC report, Tapper should say that Trump is to blame for the virus coming to New York because that’s the fact. That’s what the CDC just said. If Trump’s government had done its job, the virus wouldn’t have come here.”
The Democratic governor went on to discuss the state’s governing charter noting that states don’t typically handle global pandemics as that responsibility normally lies within the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Cuomo’s remarks came one day after Tapper’s criticism. During a panel discussion with CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Tapper scrutinized Cuomo for his “victory tour” describing his actions as “revisionism” as the pandemic rages on.
See Tapper’s remarks below:
Hats off to @jaketapper for telling it like it is here. pic.twitter.com/7UVjLasPVs
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) July 15, 2020
Gupta also expressed concern about the poster, as he insisted Americans should maintain “a significant amount of humility” as the country is still in the “early days” of the pandemic.
As of Friday morning, there are more than 3.6 million known coronavirus cases in the United States as the death toll continues to climb. There are also over 1.6 million reported recoveries from the virus in the U.S.
