New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) was celebratory in a press conference on Monday in which he highlighted decreasing coronavirus cases in the state and said that he has “taken responsibility for every bad decision.”
Of the declining coronavirus cases, Cuomo said “New Yorkers did it because we did it together. That’s what was so different — so challenging but so exciting. The only way for each of us to be healthy was if all of us were healthy.”
Cuomo went on to remember his father, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, saying, “My father’s advice to me: take responsibility, own it.”
He added, “I have taken responsibility for every bad decision and every unpopular decision, right? I’m the one who closed down, I’m the one who sets all these rules. Everybody’s angry at me, fine. The one thing I need the local government to do is actually enforce them.”
Cuomo continued, “Now they don’t want to enforce [the coronavirus rules] because they’re not popular. Nobody wants to go to the bar and say ‘you guys have to wear a mask, you guys — guys being gender neutral — are violating the social distancing’.”
Cuomo: "I have taken responsibility for every bad decision." pic.twitter.com/GFBdNIR6Hu
— The Hill (@thehill) June 15, 2020
Cuomo has been a constant presence on the airwaves over the past few months as he has worked to guide New York through the coronavirus pandemic.
The New York governor caught some criticism after a report from the Associated Press that found that over 4,500 recovering coronavirus patients were sent to nursing homes in the state.
Cuomo later said of the policy that “New York followed the President’s agency’s guidance.” He added, “What New York did was follow what the Republican administration said to do. So don’t criticize this state for following the President’s policy.”