‘Keep Politics Out Of It’: Trump Lashes Out At Governors Critical Of Federal Coronavirus Response – Forbes

Topline: President Trump attacked the governors of Michigan and New York on Twitter Tuesday—following reports that he told the state officials to “try getting [emergency equipment] yourselves”—and after several officials blasted his administration’s sluggish response to the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of cases and deaths nationwide continues to climb.

• “Andrew, keep politics out of it,” Trump tweeted, referencing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Trump again referred to the coronavirus as the “Chinese Virus,” further feeding into what critics say are racist and xenophobic tropes—and an already festering relationship of distrust between the U.S. and China.
• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has criticized Trump’s coronavirus response several times, saying Wednesday that coronavirus would be “the public health version of Hurricane Katrina” and slammed the Centers for Disease Control’s initial response as “absurd and nonsensical,” before writing in a Sunday New York Times op-ed: “Every country affected by this crisis has handled it on a national basis. The United States has not.”
• Trump also attacked Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for “failing” and that “we are pushing her to get the job done,” shortly after she said the federal government “hasn’t been prepared” and that the suggestion for states to work around the administration “because it’s too slow” is “kind of mind-boggling” in a Tuesday MSNBC appearance.
• Whitmer hit back on Twitter: “Attack tweets won’t solve this crisis. But swift and clear guidance, tests, personal protective equipment and resources would.”
• Former Democratic presidential candidate and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on February 28, 2020, described the federal response as “malpractice,” and in a Sunday CNN appearance said the administration was playing “catch-up” with the virus. 
• Criticism from elsewhere: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker tweeted on Saturday that the “federal government needs to get its s@#t [sic] together NOW,” after travelers had to wait in four-hour-long lines for medical screening at O’Hare International Airport. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted at Trump: “We have no time for your incompetence.” Mayor Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio, Texas, on March 9, 2020, described the administration’s uncoordinated response as “simply stunning.” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said on March 6, 2020, the administration’s “name-calling and making inaccurate off-the-cuff comments [was] simply irresponsible.”

Chief critic: Trump. In a Monday Twitter tit-for-tat with Cuomo, Trump tweeted: “Cuomo of New York has to “do more” [sic]. Cuomo shot back, writing, “I have to do more? No—YOU have to do something!  You’re supposed to be the President.”

Crucial quote: “I put my hand out [to Trump] in partnership,” Cuomo said during a Tuesday press conference, implying that an olive branch had been extended. Cuomo added that he had spoken with Trump by phone that morning, and the president is “ready, willing” to help.

Key background: The New York Times first reported Monday that Trump told a group of governors to “try getting [emergency equipment] yourselves,” after the governors and mayors blasted the administration for its glacial response to coronavirus. According to the Washington Post, the administration, and specifically Vice President Mike Pence, have been in regular contact with state governments as they work to contain the disease’s spread. But New York City, for example, has asked for 300,000 additional masks and other protective gear from the federal government. Meanwhile, the virus has continued to infect more Americans, with over 4,660 cases and at least 85 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Trump said Friday that he does not take responsibility for the slow, botched rollout of testing for coronavirus during a press conference to announce a national state of emergency over the pandemic, despite an earlier report alleging that Trump didn’t push more aggressively for tests because he was afraid the results might hurt his chances for reelection. (Unlike spending two months pretending the virus wasn’t there.)

Tangent: One governor didn’t provide the response Trump tried to provoke: Despite the President having called Washington State Governor Jay Inslee a “snake” on March 6, 2020, and claiming that he told Pence to not be complimentary of the governor, Inslee brushed off the slight, calling it “background noise.”