Gov. Andrew Cuomo slams President Trump's response to COVID pandemic
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo addresses the Democratic National Convention.
President Trump fired back at Andrew Cuomo after the New York governor delivered a blistering speech at the Democratic National Convention on Monday criticizing the White House's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a tweet, Trump accused the three-term governor of being responsible for thousands of deaths in nursing homes, referring to Cuomo's controversial policy in late March that essentially ordered nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients from hospitals, a measure designed to free up hospital beds. (He eventually reversed the order in May).
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"Now AP estimates that the real Cuomo number of people killed because of his total incompetence is 11,000, not the 6000 that was originally thought!" Trump tweeted.
The state has officially reported a care home death toll of more than 6,600.
But unlike other states with major outbreaks, New York only counts residents who died on nursing home property, not individuals who were transported to hospitals and died there, according to the Associated Press. The discrepancy could add thousands of individuals to the state's nursing home death toll.
The Cuomo administration has refused to release the number, leading to speculation the state is intentionally manipulating the figures.
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For months, New York was the epicenter of the virus, which ultimately killed more than 32,000 individuals, the highest death toll in the nation.
Trump also tweeted a clip of Cuomo saying the White House's team has "been on it, been responsive, late at night, early in the mornings."
"Cuomo, just like his brother Fredo, has not got a very good memory!" he wrote.
Other Republicans were also quick to criticize Cuomo's speech, during which he slammed the Trump administration for its management of the pandemic.
"Our nation is in crisis, and in many ways, COVID is just a metaphor," the governor said. "A virus attacks when the body is weak and when it cannot defend itself. Over these past few years, America’s body politic has been weakened."
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“Americans learned a critical lesson – how vulnerable we are when we are divided and how many lives can be lost when our government is incompetent," he added.
Matt Whitlock, a senior adviser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called Cuomo's comments touting his administration's success in handling the virus "so gross."
The U.S. has close to 5.5 million COVID-19 cases, the most in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data. More than 170,000 individuals have died as a result of the virus -- and cases are still rising in many parts of the country.
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