A war of words has broken out between Govs. Ron DeSantis and Andrew Cuomo. For weeks the Florida governor has touted the low rate of coronavirus cases in his state, despite the media's skewering him for daring to open up the beaches in counties tallying low infections. He had had enough of the media onslaught and in a meeting with President Trump at the White House he rebuked the press for pushing dire predictions that never came true. Then a few weeks later, when the press didn't let up and continued to compare Florida to New York, he lashed out at them to their faces.
DeSantis says any insinuation Florida doesn't have best data is typical partisan narrative.
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) May 20, 2020
"You've got a lot of people in your profession who waxed poetically for weeks and weeks about how Florida was going to be just like NY."https://t.co/jTzJmKk8X0 pic.twitter.com/1sGw3Z1P3V
Florida is now experiencing a spike in cases, which DeSantis says is due to an increase in coronavirus testing. Whatever the reason, the press has new opportunity to tag Florida (again) as the next "epicenter" of the pandemic. Last Thursday the Sunshine State had its biggest daily spike yet in new cases, with 3,208 new cases. And the state now has 86,000 cases in total.
New York Gov. Cuomo, who in his last few coronavirus press conferences touted the low rate of infections in the state in their phased reopening, took a look at Florida and suggested that he may require any visiting Floridians to quarantine themselves before continuing their visit in the Big Apple.
Asked about Cuomo's plans to single out Floridians, DeSantis took a swipe at the governor for his controversial policy that placed COVID-positive patients back in nursing homes.
“Just please do not quarantine any Floridians in the nursing homes in New York,” DeSantis pleaded.
FLORIDA: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took a swipe at Gov. Cuomo, saying that if he imposes a quarantine on Florida visitors, “just please do not quarantine any Floridians in the nursing homes in New York.” pic.twitter.com/r64jPIhRmY
— KolHaolam (@KolHaolam) June 21, 2020
Cuomo's office had a juvenile response:
Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo senior advisor, fired back at DeSantis on Sunday, retorting, “said the guy who can’t even put on a mask on the right way!”
“Maybe less time repeating right-wing Twitter bots and more time? trying to competently manage the pandemic that’s spiking in his state,” Azzopardi said. “His citizens, which polls show have zero faith in him, might appreciate it.” (New York Post)
At the moment, the infection rate in New York is low. But it still appears to be overshadowed by Cuomo's deadly nursing home mandate, which he's since reversed. Lawmakers and surviving family members agree that the governor's decision caused thousands of untimely deaths.