Tipsheet

Cuomo: Trump Caused the COVID Outbreak in New York

Cortney O'Brien
Cortney O'Brien  |  September 08, 2020 1:00 PM

He didn't even try to beat around the bush. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) directly blamed President Trump for the outbreak in his state on Tuesday. Calling the president "incompetent," Cuomo suggested it was the federal government's fault that COVID spread in New York because they failed to shut down European travel.

"Donald Trump caused the COVID outbreak in New York," Cuomo said. "That is a fact, it's a fact that he admitted, and the CDC admitted, and Fauci admitted."

It was not the "China virus," the governor insisted. "It was the European virus that came to New York."

"Why didn't you stop the virus?" he added. "The virus killed many more Americans than anything you were worried about on the southern border."

The governor also revisited his complaints that the federal government has done little to help New York. He accompanied his remarks with a PowerPoint that displayed a news article headline that read, "Trump to New York: Drop Dead."

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"Not only did he tell New York City to drop dead," Cuomo alleged. "Trump is actively trying to kill New York City. It is personal, I think it's psychological."

Cuomo didn't mean just in terms of COVID, but the president's hesitation to fund transportation in New York.

Gov. Cuomo, we've learned after dozens of his self congratulatory press conferences, will not take any responsibility for the massive outbreak in New York. The grisly number of nursing home deaths has long been blamed on his March 25 mandate that forced facilities to accept COVID patients. But he chooses to blame nursing home staffers and visiting family members, and will not even consider an independent investigation into the tragedy.

Cuomo refused to believe that anything other than "Donald Trump's incompetence" caused the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. He recently warned President Trump that he "better have an army" with him if he plans to visit New York anytime soon.