President Donald Trump continues to insist that he has âtotal authorityâ on the decision to reopen the country and blasted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) for âwant independence.â
In a tweet on Tuesday morning, Trump wrote, âCuomoâs been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the stateâs responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That wonât happen!â
The presidentâs remark is apparently a response to Cuomoâs Monday night CNN interview in which he said, âI donât agree with the presidentâs legal analysis. The president doesnât have total authority. We have a Constitution, we donât have a king. We have an elected president.â
Cuomo has been among the largest figures during the coronavirus pandemic because New York, and New York City particularly, has been at the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States.
The New York governor said at the beginning of the crisis that he spoke to Trump and urged him to put their previous differences aside.
He said, âForget the politics, put that aside. Forget the past, put that aside. Forget personalities. These are all indulgences that we donât have right now.â
Like Trump, Cuomo has been giving daily briefings in which he updates viewers on the status of the pandemic.
Cuomo says that he wants to reopen his state âas soon as possibleâ but cautioned that there needs to be a âsafeâ and âcoordinatedâ approach in the decision to reopen the country.
Meanwhile, Trump has insisted that he has âtotalâ authority over the decision to reopen states and in a Monday morning tweet, he set off a constitutional firestorm when he declared that it is the decision of the federal government and the President of the United States to reopen the states.
