Donald Trump has spent weeks blaming states for his failed response to the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo blew a hole in that strategy on Thursday.
During an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Cuomo compared Trump’s blame game to George W. Bush’s attempt to pass the buck to the mayor of New Orleans after the bungled federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
“If the localities can’t handle it, then the federal government steps in,” the New York governor said, explaining to Trump how government works. “No state is equipped to handle this situation.”
“States don’t do public health emergencies,” he added. “There is no capacity in my state health system that runs at 50,000 beds to create and maintain an additional 50,000 beds just in case, once every 20 years, there is a pandemic.”
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Video:
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo explains to Donald Trump how public health emergency responses are supposed to work. #ctl #p2 #maddow pic.twitter.com/H4e9PbDBmx
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) April 3, 2020
Gov. Cuomo said:
If the localities can’t handle it, then the federal government steps in. Remember what happened with President Bush with Hurricane Katrina. He blamed the mayor. Why? Because that was rule one. The mayor didn’t know how to handle it, and it’s the mayor’s fault. Yeah, but it was rule two which is if it’s beyond the capacity of the local government, then the federal government should step in. No state is equipped to handle this situation. State emergency management does hurricanes, floods, of moderate dimension, if they are really big, the federal government comes in, that’s what FEMA is all about. States don’t do public health emergencies. There is no capacity in my state health system that runs at 50,000 beds to create and maintain an additional 50,000 beds just in case, once every 20 years, there is a pandemic. You know, it doesn’t work that way. But that’s where we are now. Hindsight is 20/20.
Trump is looking to blame anybody but himself
After months of this virus spreading across the globe, it’s nothing short of incredible that Donald Trump still looks at this pandemic as a state and local issue.
Earlier on Thursday, he even said the federal government is basically supposed to play a back-up role in these types of emergencies. Spoken like a true wartime president.
At the end of the day, Donald Trump knows – like George W. Bush did in 2005 – that his incompetence has led to thousands of dead Americans.
He’s looking to blame anybody but himself.
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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.
