Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ranted, “Donald Trump caused the COVID outbreak in New York,” then immediately chanted again, “Donald Trump caused the COVID outbreak in New York.”
Cuomo’s rant against Trump began, “Donald Trump caused the COVID outbreak in New York. Donald Trump caused the COVID outbreak in New York. That is a fact. It’s a fact that he admitted and the CDC admitted and Fauci admitted. The China virus, the China virus, the China virus. It was not the China virus. It was the European virus that came to New York. They missed it. They missed it. The China virus went to Europe. It got on a plane. It went to Europe. They never even thought of the possibility. And then three million Europeans got on the plane and came to New York and they brought the virus.
“January, they brought the virus,” Cuomo continued. “February, they brought the virus. March, they brought the virus and in mid-March the federal government does a travel ban from Europe. Mid-March, too little too late, Mr. President. He caused the COVID outbreak in New York. Donald Trump and his incompetent CDC and his incompetent NIH and his incompetent Department of Homeland Security. Department of Homeland Security, we’re going to protect the people of this nation. We’re not going to let the immigrants come across the Southern border. We’re going to create a wall. Why didn’t you stop the virus? The virus killed many more Americans than anything you were worried about on the Southern border. This nation loses more people per day to COVID than any nation on the globe. Do you hear that point? We lose more people per day to COVID than any nation on the globe. You know who did that? Donald Trump’s incompetence.”
“They’re playing politics,” Cuomo snapped. “They don’t want to help Democratic States. They don’t want to help Democratic cities. This is a war on cities: New York City, Portland, Chicago. These are the enemies from the President’s point of view. Look at his tweets. These are the locations and the outposts of the enemies. So don’t provide them any funding, even though we cause the COVID virus. It is an unsustainable position for the federal government. Either this president will figure it out or the next president will figure it out. If the Congress doesn’t figure it out, there’ll be mayhem in this country, and there will be a different Congress in January. That is my political opinion.”
Cuomo, whose management of coronavirus has been linked to the huge numbers of deaths in New York and who expressed his opposition to hiring an independent investigator to explore exactly what happened in nursing homes in New York vis-a-vis the coronavirus in August, also bragged about the low rate of death from the virus in New York City, boasting:
All across the city, the numbers have basically been good. The infection rate 0.96, which is extraordinary, means it’s been below 1% for over a month now. And it is an obvious outlier to what’s going on across the rest of the country. Under 1% for 32 days. And my hats off to New Yorkers. Who’s doing this? The continued compliance and discipline of New Yorkers. That’s who’s doing it. Who’s wearing the masks? Who’s doing social distancing? Who’s being smart? New Yorkers. And the infection rate is a pure function of what New Yorkers are doing. And I know these are tough times, et cetera, but at one point you have to take a step back and say what an extraordinary accomplishment by the people of this state.
As Fox News has noted, over 6,200 elderly residents may have died from COVID-19 in New York nursing homes according to state health department statistics. On March 25, the New York Department of Health issued an advisory that stated nursing homes had to accept residents returning from hospitals whether or not they had a diagnosis of COVID-19.