New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave his daily coronavirus news briefing on Saturday, and the presentation – both in style and substance – could not have been more different than what the American people have been seeing from the White House.
MSNBC’s Joy Reid reacted to the briefing in real time, saying that Cuomo’s “calm, authoritative” presentation was a stunning contrast with the president who is “combative, angry” and spends his daily briefings “fighting with the press, disputing his experts.”
“They say that character is revealed in crisis,” the MSNBC host said. “Wow, these two are very different.”
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Joy Reid reacts to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s daily coronavirus news briefing: “Boy, I cannot imagine a greater difference with the presentations daily that are given by the president of the United States.” #ctl #p2 #amjoy pic.twitter.com/MtWXsBBV6Q
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 21, 2020
Reid said:
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, factual, even with a powerpoint presentation, seated at a nice social distance from the experts beside him, calm, authoritative. Boy, I cannot imagine a greater difference with the presentations daily that are given by the president of the United States. They say that character is revealed in crisis. Wow, these two are very different. Donald Trump combative, angry, fighting with the press, disputing his experts – could not be a different presentation between the two of them.
Presidential leadership is coming from the state level, not the White House
As this crisis continues to wreak havoc all around the country, the American people have seen more presidential leadership from the state level than from the White House.
In New York, the state with the most infections, Gov. Cuomo has been truthful about the seriousness of this outbreak, but he’s also delivered his message in a calm and authoritative manner. Other governors, including Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, have understood that this is no laughing matter and have acted accordingly.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings are a horror show, with the president physically crammed together with Mike Pence and the rest of the task force, attacking journalists who ask valid questions, and spreading false information that’s often immediately corrected by his own team.
In fact, Trump had another morning meltdown on Saturday in which he spewed more falsehoods about a possible coronavirus cure.
The longer this health emergency goes on, the more obvious it is that the American people would be better off if Donald Trump just stayed quiet and let the adults at all levels of government handle this crisis.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
