This is not the first time that President Donald Trump and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) have sparred.
Cuomo originally offered praise of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for their responses to the coronavirus outbreak. Soon after, Trump criticized Cuomo saying he wasn’t doing enough, as IJR previously reported.
Trump tweeted, “Just had a very good teleconference with Nation’s Governors. Went very well. Cuomo of New York has to ‘do more.'”
The president’s tweet did not go unseen by Cuomo, as the New York governor took to Twitter to respond.
“I have to do more? No — YOU have to do something! You’re supposed to be the President,” Cuomo tweeted.
The feud between the two continued on Tuesday with Trump claiming that Cuomo is more focused on politics than the virus.
“Cuomo wants ‘all states to be treated the same.’ But all states aren’t the same. Some are being hit hard by the Chinese Virus, some are being hit practically not at all,” he tweeted, adding, “New York is a very big ‘hotspot’, West Virginia has, thus far, zero cases.”
“Andrew, keep politics out of it,” Trump wrote.
Cuomo wants “all states to be treated the same.” But all states aren’t the same. Some are being hit hard by the Chinese Virus, some are being hit practically not at all. New York is a very big “hotspot”, West Virginia has, thus far, zero cases. Andrew, keep politics out of it….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2020
The criticism of Cuomo comes just a day after the New York governor signed an executive order to close schools across the state for two weeks.
“I am directing the closure of all schools throughout the state for two weeks as we continue working aggressively to ramp up testing, isolate those who are sick and mitigate the impacts of this virus,” Cuomo said in a statement.
Trump recently changed his tone surrounding the coronavirus. He reminded Americans to take this seriously, as IJR previously reported.
Cuomo gave an update on the number of cases in New York during a press conference. There are now 432 new cases statewide bringing the total number to 1,374.
NEW: NY Gov. Cuomo says expert projections show expected peak of coronavirus cases in New York in 45 days.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 17, 2020
Cuomo says state will need 55,000-110,000 hospital beds and 18,600-37,200 ICU beds at projected peak, and that state currently has 53,000 hospital beds and 3,000 ICU beds. pic.twitter.com/PiaQ8IOHqI
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, just over 7,500 deaths have been confirmed worldwide with over 187,000 confirmed cases, as of publication.
