New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision to hold a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as over 20 states battle with increases in coronavirus cases.
During an appearance on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” the Democratic governor was asked his opinion of Trump’s rally scheduled for Saturday and whether or not he would allow a large political rally to be held in New York.
Cuomo flatly said, “No.”
Noting that the White House models project another 30,000 deaths by October, Cuomo criticized Trump for his decision to hold the rally.
“The President of the United States, knowing that the model’s now say another 30,000 people could die by October, still insists we shouldn’t be careful, we shouldn’t follow the science, don’t worry about the public health, have a political arena. I mean it makes no sense,” Cuomo said on Thursday night.
He added, “And it’s the exact wrong signal and that’s what the states getting into trouble are all following.”
See Cuomo’s remarks below:
“The states that are doing that are seeing the virus go up and seeing their hospitals fill up and their ICU beds fill up,” Cuomo later said, adding, “And that’s going to not only hurt the economy it’s also going to cause more Americans to die.”
He continued, “When they raise up those projection models, which they are now doing, that is just an extrapolation on the viral rate that they are seeing.”
According to Cooper, the Tulsa arena holds approximately 19,000 people.
The president has already revealed that approximately 1 million people have already registered to receive tickets to the event, as previously reported on IJR. So, there is a high likelihood of the event being completely packed.
Despite ongoing protests that have also captured large, outdoor crowds with limited social distancing, Trump’s rally will be the first large-scale indoor event the U.S. has seen since early March.
However, the president has noted that temperate checks will be conducted upon entry, masks will be distributed, and sanitizer will be readily available.