President Donald Trump has been critical of some states and governors that have taken a different approach to the coronavirus than his administration and he continued that line of attack this week.
In a Monday morning tweet, Trump questioned why he would bail out states, saying, “Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as example) and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help? I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1254782650679615492?s=20
This is hardly the first time that Trump has attacked states with Democratic leadership.
In a series of mid-April tweets, Trump called for citizens in three states with Democratic governors — Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia — to “liberate” the states.
Trump has also said that he has urged Vice President Mike Pence not to call to support Democratic governors in states like Michigan or Washington.
The president also previously said that he has control of when governors choose to re-open their states and shot down the idea of governors leading their states in a press conference, saying, “When somebody’s the president of the United States, the authority is total.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has also suggested rather than states receiving help from the federal government, he would be open to the states declaring bankruptcy.
But New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) blasted McConnell’s suggestion, tweeting, “Let’s talk about fairness, Mitch. [New York state] puts $116 billion more into the federal pot than we take out. Kentucky TAKES $148 billion more from the federal pot than they put in.”
Let’s talk about fairness, Mitch.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 23, 2020
NYS puts $116 billion more into the federal pot than we take out.
Kentucky TAKES $148 billion more from the federal pot than they put in.
But we don't deserve help now because the 15,000 people who died here were predominately democrats?
Some states — Georgia, which is led by Republican Governor Brian Kemp — have already started to re-open. But Trump tweeted that he never gave Kemp the go-ahead on certain businesses in reopening the state and even said that some businesses like beauty salons should take a slower route.
