Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.) is known for reaching across the aisle and he highlighted that quality in an interview on ABC’s “The View” in which he explained exactly why he wants President Donald Trump to be successful in battling the coronavirus.
Asked why he is so adamant in hoping for success from Trump, Rose said, “After Barack Obama won his first election, Mitch McConnell stood up and said his singular priority is to make sure that this president doesn’t win re-election, I’m never going to stoop down to that level.”
Rose went on to praise Trump for using the Defense Production Act to increase production for swabs used to test for the coronavirus, saying it is “exactly the type of thing that we need to see more of. And we can’t think about politics right now, we can’t think about an election. We have to just think about the future of this country and beating this virus.”
He called for increased testing, calling for “millions of tests per day for both antibodies and the virus.”
“We can’t think about politics right now.”
— The View (@TheView) April 20, 2020
Dem. @RepMaxRose on why he’s said he wants to see Trump successful in beating COVID-19, even if it means him winning re-election: “We have to just think about the future of this country and beating this virus.” https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik pic.twitter.com/mMztZ3ydwM
Rose also agreed with Trump in comparing coronavirus to a war, but said that he feels that the current moment is more similar to World War II, “This requires the president to step in … to make sure that there’s no shortage of these critical supplies that we need.”
He added that it’s important that we have war-time solidarity, “People are not thinking about ways to divide each other, but they’re thinking about ways in which we can unite. That’s what makes this the greatest country in the history of the world.”
.@RepMaxRose likens the COIVID-19 crisis to “total war” such as World War II “where we had to utilize the full manufacturing capacity of the United States” because “the free market alone won’t solve this problem.” https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/vjUQBJFCJT
— The View (@TheView) April 20, 2020
Rose has a personal investment in the coronavirus pandemic — as a member of the National Guard, he’s leading the fight against the virus in the district that he represents in Washington DC.
The New York congressman spent two weeks with the Guard setting up an emergency hospital.