On Friday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted that President Trump had acted justly when he slammed the World Health Organization’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
Cuomo stated, “Whose job is it to warn us of these global pandemics? The president says it’s the World Health Organization and that’s why he’s taken action against them. Not my field, but he’s right to ask the question because this was too little, too late. And let’s find out what happened so it doesn’t happen again. And it will happen again. Bank on it. Let’s not put our head in the sand and say this is the only global pandemic that we’ll ever have to deal with.”
Cuomo’s admission must have been disquieting, at the very least, to members of the mainstream media who ripped Trump for his brusque treatment of the WHO.
Earlier this month, Trump fired at WHO, “They called it wrong. They really — they missed the call. And we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it and we’re going to see. I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we are going to look at it … The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look.”
On April 8, CNN ran an opinion piece ranting, “Trump’s unexpected tirade against the WHO — delivered on World Health Day, which honors frontline health workers — may be written off by some as just another crass attempt by the President to throw his base red meat. If that is the case, doing so in the midst of an unprecedented global public health emergency is disgusting and dangerous.”
On April 14, Trump announced he was terminating funding of WHO, stating:
Today I’m instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the Coronavirus. Everybody knows what’s going on there. American taxpayers provided between $400 million and $500 million per year to the W.H.O. In contrast China contributes $40 million a year and even less as the organization’s leading sponsor.” …
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have deep concerns whether America’s generosity has been put to the best use possible. The reality is that the W.H.O. failed to adequately obtain, vet, and share information in a timely and transparent fashion. The world depends on the W.H.O. to work with countries to ensure that accurate information about international health threats is shared in a timely manner, and, if it’s not, to independently tell the world the truth about what is happening.
The W.H.O. failed in this basic duty and must be held accountable. The W.H.O. Failed to investigate credible reports from sources in Wuhan that conflicted directly with the Chinese government’s official accounts. There was credible information to suspect human to human transmission in December 2019, which should have spurred the W.H.O. to investigate and investigate immediately. Through the middle of January, it parroted and publicly endorsed the idea that there was not human to human happening despite reports and clear evidence to the contrary.”
The same day, The New York Times wrote, “The attack on the W.H.O., which was founded after World War II as part of the United Nations ‘to promote and protect the health of all peoples,’ was the latest example of the president’s attempt to shift the blame throughout the crisis.”
On April 15, NBC News ran an article that reported:
Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates told his 50 million Twitter followers that halting the WHO’s funding was “as dangerous as it sounds.” “Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped, no other organization can replace them,” Gates tweeted. “The world needs the WHO now more than ever.”
Video of Cuomo below:
Cuomo says President Trump is "right" to question World Health Organization's early handling of the coronavirus outbreak: "This was too little, too late, and let's find out what happened so it does not happen again. And it will happen again. Bank on it." https://t.co/9T8aUPjUrs pic.twitter.com/GU5HXss4Sb
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 24, 2020
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a subscriber.