On Monday, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, ever eager to aggrandize on behalf of his older brother Andrew, the governor of New York, and seemingly upset about good news from Florida, attacked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a report stated that the daily number of new coronavirus cases was starting to dip. Cuomo mocked DeSantis, tweeting, “Can we trust the data from florida’s governor?”
Can we trust the data from florida’s governor? https://t.co/1rLT3YzUYe
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) July 27, 2020
Cuomo’s tweet was triggered by ABC News, which reported, “Hard-hit Florida reports 8,892 new coronavirus cases Monday morning—the first time its daily case count was below 9,000 in at least two weeks, according to data from the state’s Department of Health.”
NEW: Hard-hit Florida reports 8,892 new coronavirus cases Monday morning—the first time its daily case count was below 9,000 in at least two weeks, according to data from the state's Department of Health. https://t.co/PSrfWUaKRu
— ABC News (@ABC) July 27, 2020
Cuomo’s charge is ironic considering in mid-May, news reports surfaced that his brother’s state had elided some coronavirus deaths in nursing homes and adult care facilities. The Daily Caller reported:
New York has omitted an unknown number of coronavirus deaths in recent reports regarding residents of nursing home and adult care facilities, the New York State Department of Health acknowledged in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.In early May, those reports quietly began omitting long-term care residents who died of coronavirus in hospitals. Even so, New York still leads the nation with 5,433 reported deaths at nursing homes and adult care facilities as of Wednesday.
It’s no wonder Chris Cuomo is attacking DeSantis; New York state has a population of 19.45 million; Florida’s population is 21.48 million. As of July 27, New York has had 412, 344 coronavirus cases; Florida has had 432,747, according to covidusa.net. New York has suffered 32,645 deaths as a result of the coronavirus; Florida has suffered 5,931 deaths. That amounts to a mortality rate of 7.9% in New York, while in Florida the mortality rate is 1.4%, meaning New York’s mortality rate is more than five times higher than New York’s.
The battle between the Cuomos and DeSantis is nothing new. In late June, after a reporter informed DeSantis that Andrew Cuomo was “considering a quarantine on travelers from Florida,” DeSantis fired back a withering response as he obliquely referred to the New York state order that possibly doomed many elderly residents to die from the coronavirus: “I think governors are going to do what they need to do. I would just ask them if that’s done, just please do not quarantine any Floridians in the nursing homes in New York.”
As Fox News 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. The advisory stated:
During this global health emergency, all NHs must comply with the expedited receipt of residents returning from hospitals to NHs. Residents are deemed appropriate for return to a NH upon a determination by the hospital physician or designee that the resident is medically stable for return. Hospital discharge planners must confirm to the NH, by telephone, that the resident is medically stable for discharge. Comprehensive discharge instructions must be provided by the hospital prior to the transport of a resident to the NH.
No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.NHs are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.
The Daily Wire reported on May 10 that a report from New York state authorities showed that “at least 4,813 residents with confirmed or presumed cases of COVID-19 have died at 351 of New York’s 613 nursing homes since March 1, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration’s new list,” according to Time Magazine.
Cuomo got hammered on Twitter after his “trust” tweet:
Wait, he's not getting out a giant Q-tip to have fun with ALL the governors? https://t.co/OoQ5EN08VE
— NewsBusters (@newsbusters) July 27, 2020
How about dealing with the blood on your brother's hands before spreading conspiracies about other governors. https://t.co/bhi6HHeo1B
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 27, 2020
Florida has been remarkably transparent with its data, so yes. Let's not suggest otherwise, without evidence (and don't give me the 'Jones firing' story, which has been debunked). https://t.co/31BQMjoQuv
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 27, 2020
Just so we're clear – a CNN anchor is throwing out conspiracy theories about a governor who is in a public feud with the anchor's governor brother.
You want to talk about voices we can't trust, Chris? Take a look in your vanity mirror. https://t.co/YB9w3o7hhP
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) July 27, 2020