Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that President Trump has met “every single direct request” he was capable of making in the effort to aid California in combating the coronavirus outbreak.
“Every single direct request that he was capable of meeting, he has met,” Newsom said during an interview on CNN. “We have the U.S.N.S. Mercy in California because of his direct intervention and support. Two thousand of these federal medical stations because of his direct support. And so, I can only speak for myself, but I have to be complimentary. Otherwise, I would be simply lying to you, misleading you. And that is a wonderful thing to be able to say, and I hope that continues.”
Newsom, a staunch Trump critic in the past, praised the president’s response to the coronavirus earlier this month as well.
“Let me just be candid with you. I’d be lying to you to say that he hasn’t been responsive to our needs. He has. And so, as a question, as a sort of an offer of objectivity, I have to acknowledge that publicly,” Newsom told CNN’s Jake Tapper on April 1.
“The fact is, every time I’ve called the president, he’s quickly gotten on the line.”
In the state of California, 596 people have died, and over 21,000 people have been infected.
Los Angeles County, California, officials announced Friday that the stay-at-home order in the region that was set to expire on April 19 will extend until at least May 15.
