House Minority Whip Steve Scalise took issue with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s criticism of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s coronavirus response.
“Your nursing home death rate is 500% higher per capita than Florida’s,” the Louisiana Republican said in response to a clip of Cuomo criticizing DeSantis. “Sit down,” he added.
Your nursing home death rate is 500% higher per capita than Florida’s.
Sit down. https://t.co/YCFx89gTCZ
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) June 25, 2020
In the clip, Cuomo slammed DeSantis and other governors who have opened up their state economies, saying, “Look at the numbers. You played politics with this virus, and you lost.”
DeSantis was criticized for announcing Florida would end coronavirus lockdowns in early May. That criticism has intensified over the last few days as there have been an increased number of coronavirus cases amid increased testing and loosening restrictions.
As Scalise indicated, Cuomo has faced criticism of his own for his decision to require nursing homes to admit elderly individuals who tested positive for the virus. Facing mounting criticism as thousands of people died in nursing homes, the Democrat reversed the policy.
At least one-third of coronavirus deaths in the United States were nursing home residents or workers.
Former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson, a vocal advocate for ending government-imposed lockdowns, responded to the clip of Cuomo claiming that 10 times more people have died from the virus in New York than Florida.
“Wait, what? New York has ~10 TIMES the virus deaths as Florida,” Berenson said. “Btw, one heard very little in the media about red state-blue state gaps back in April and May.”
Wait, what? New York has ~10 TIMES the virus deaths as Florida. Btw, one heard very little in the media about red state-blue state gaps back in April and May. https://t.co/zMMYW6gKCp
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 25, 2020
Scalise also wrote an op-ed for the New York Post slamming Cuomo’s response to the virus.
“As the ranking member of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, I am charged with investigating ‘preparedness for and response to the coronavirus crisis,’” Scalise wrote. “By all accounts, New York’s handling of the crisis in its nursing homes has been a colossal failure.”
“Our investigation centers on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision, on March 25, to force nursing homes to accept known COVID-positive patients while also prohibiting homes from even testing patients for COVID-19 prior to admission,” Scalise added. “This policy, which remained in place for more than six weeks, likely contributed significantly to the thousands of elderly deaths in New York nursing homes.”
Scalise continued: “The governor has deflected responsibility for this mistake to any number of other entities, including, bizarrely, the New York Post. More recently, Cuomo blamed President Trump, saying, ‘Why did the state do that with COVID patients in nursing homes? It’s because the state followed President Trump’s CDC guidance.’ PolitiFact rated this statement ‘Mostly False.’”
