Janice Dean slams Gov. Cuomo's 'tone deaf' victory lap on COVID: We're still mourning
Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean believes New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's policies played a role in the death of her husband's parents.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo fired back at CNN anchor Jake Tapper over criticisms he made over a poster the Dem made that touts the state's response to the coronavirus outbreak.
On Monday, Cuomo was heavily criticized after he debuted a poster he designed called "New York Tough" that he suggested captures the journey his state went through while tackling COVID-19.
The next day, however, Tapper blasted the governor over his "victory tour."
"New York's Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, seems to be on something of a victory tour congratulating the state and himself for defeating the virus," Tapper began before pointing to the poster filled with "inside jokes" that Cuomo is selling.
"There are no illustrations, however, of the more than 32,000 dead New Yorkers, the highest death toll by far of any state. No rendering on that poster of the criticism that Governor Cuomo ignored warnings, no depiction of the study that he could have saved thousands of lives had he and Mayor De Blasio acted sooner, no painting of his rescinded order that nursing homes take all infected patients in," the CNN anchor continued.
On Thursday, during a phone interview on CNN, Cuomo was asked about the poster that "celebrated" New York's response to the virus but pushed back, insisting he "wasn't celebrating at all."
"That was Mr. Tapper's misconstruction and his own political interpretation, which everyone is allowed," Cuomo told CNN anchor Kate Bolduan. "What we're saying is that New Yorkers did step up and did flatten the curve. That is a fact. The people of New York unified, the people of New York were disciplined, they helped each other, and they did it. We went from the worst infection rate in the country to the best, to the lowest. That is a fact. Good for New Yorkers. I applaud New Yorkers. I'm proud to applaud New Yorkers."
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Bolduan then pressed the governor by echoing Tapper's criticism that the poster doesn't mention there were "more deaths than any other state."
"Do you think the poster was a mistake in the midst of all of this?" Bolduan asked?
"No," Cuomo responded. "Tapper's point, as you just heard from the CDC report, Tapper should say that Trump is to blame for the virus coming to New York because that's the fact. That's what the CDC just said. If Trump's government done its job, the virus wouldn't have come here... The virus didn't come here because of anything New Yorkers did, the virus came here because the federal government missed it."
He continued, "[New Yorkers] came together like never before... I've never seen them come together like that before and if Mr. Tapper doesn't think that New Yorkers did something great, I disagree with Mr. Tapper."
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Tapper responded to Cuomo's criticisms by inviting him to come on his weekday and Sunday shows.
The anchor also clarified, "I think it's obvious that I was talking about NY leaders, not my beloved New York friends; AND I certainly have also pointed out Trump's failures in this pandemic!"
The poster depicts a mountain with essential workers pulling a rope symbolizing how the state flattened the curve.
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On top of the poster reads a quote attributed to the governor, "Wake up America! Forget the politics, get smart!"
The poster features an airplane with "Europeans," "COVID-19," "Jan-Mar," and "3 million" on it, suggesting that the virus mostly came from travels flying in from Europe instead of China, where the disease is believed to have originated.
Also seen on the poster are masks and President Trump sitting on a crescent moon saying, "It's just the flu."
The poster costs $14.50 plus shipping and handling and has a disclaimer that says, "New York State does not profit from the sale of this poster."
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Cuomo's poster was blasted on social media.
The Associated Press reported last week that “New York hospitals released more than 6,300 recovering coronavirus patients into nursing homes during the height” of the coronavirus pandemic under a “controversial, now-scrapped policy.”
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.