May 28, 2020 — by David Sommerstein (News Director) , in Canton, NY
Gov. Cuomo speaking Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Photo: Office of Gov. Cuomo
May 28, 2020 — Governor Andrew Cuomo says often he eschews politics to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. But he sure got political in his daily briefing yesterday.
He was at the National Press Club in Washington, DC after a meeting with President Donald Trump.
And he railed against Republican Senators who are reluctant to offer federal relief to state and local governments hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuomo accused them of “playing politics” when in the past, Congress has responded quickly to emergencies.
“It’s Hurricane Katrina. No politics. It’s flooding in Texas. No Politics. It’s Midwest floods. Pass an emergency bill, no politics. You’re talking about people’s lives here,” the Governor said. “Even now? Even now, 100,000 people dead in this nation, and you’re going to play politics?
Cuomo called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who suggested states could declare bankruptcy in the wake of the pandemic and whose office called more federal aid a “blue state bailout.”
But Cuomo spoke very differently about the Republican president. He said he and Trump had a “good conversation” about stimulating the economy with a major infrastructure program.
“Look, he’s a builder, he’s a developer, right? He gets it,” Cuomo said. “And he believes in construction and development. It’s been his career.”
With New York facing an estimated $13-billion deficit, Cuomo will need the support of President Trump and his Republican colleagues in the Senate to get federal funding that wards off deep cuts to everything from schools and fire departments to Medicaid and highway building.
