New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo argued that he and his fellow governors should refrain from tuning into the White House press briefings on the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuomo’s remarks about the usefulness of the daily briefings came in response to a question about Monday’s event, during which the president got into heated confrontations with reporters and touted unilateral control over the government.
During a Tuesday morning interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, the New York governor was asked whether he saw the briefing from the previous day and if he feels there is any “value” in governors watching them.
“No, a governor should not watch that. There’s no value in it. It would be — it is infuriating and offensive, and, frankly, ignorant of the facts,” Cuomo began before pivoting to his thoughts on the president’s claim to have absolute authority over when states reopen.
“The president stood up and said forget the Constitution of the United States. Forget the concept of federalism. To hear a Republican stand up there, by the way, and argue big government and total authority of the federal government is somewhat amusing. You know, if it wasn’t so serious, it would be funny. All of this, it could be a comedy skit. And it’s frightening,” Cuomo added. “This is the last place we should be.”
A day earlier, Cuomo ridiculed the president’s same remarks, noting that the United States doesn’t “have a king.”
He and Trump have worked closely amid the pandemic, where New York has become the epicenter of the virus. The New York-born politicians have occasionally shared positive sentiments about one another, with Cuomo recently saying that the president frequently asks how his brother Chris, the host of a CNN prime time show, is doing as he combats the virus himself.
“We’re both doing a really great job, and we’re coordinating things,” Trump said of the governor last month.
