Gov. Cuomo Defends Chumminess With Trump: ‘I Don’t Care if You Like Him … We’re Not Setting Up a ‘Marriage’

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday defended his efforts to work with President Donald Trump, arguing America is at war and that his job is to “protect the other person in the fox hole.”

Cuomo made the remarks while he was speaking about a trip to the White House on Tuesday, calling it a “productive” visit. “What does that mean, productive visit? To me, a productive visit means we spoke truth, we spoke facts, we made decisions and we have a plan going forward,” Cuomo said. “That was accomplished yesterday, and I feel good about it, personally. It’s what should have happened, right?”

Preempting critics who might question the trip, Cuomo said the president had tweeted “very unkind” things about him and his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, but that it was not as important as combating the coronavirus pandemic. “By the way, these are people in the White House who politically don’t like me. That’s the fact, right? You see the president’s tweets. He’s often tweeted very unkind things about me and my brother. Politically, we’ve had conflicts back and forth. But we said with him, we sat with this team and that was put aside because who really cares how I feel or how he feels? Who cares? Get the job done.”

Cuomo, who serves as vice-chair of the Republican-dominated National Governors Association, said the meeting focused on matters related to coronavirus testing and state funding. The Senate on Tuesday passed a $484 billion relief plan that included aid for small businesses and hospitals, but did not include aid for states, which Democrats have sought.

Trump, however, said Tuesday evening that he supported the inclusion of aid to states including New York as part of a “fourth phase” of relief. “We mentioned briefly the state aid, and we talked about that, Mr. Cuomo and myself,” Trump told reporters. “I agree with him on that, and I think most Republicans agree, too, and Democrats. And that’s part of phase four, and I think infrastructure is going to be a big part — we have to rebuild our country.”

Cuomo said on Wednesday that Trump “gets it” and that he believed he would work “very hard on the next piece of legislation.” He expressed less faith in Congress, saying, “Yes, they passed funding for small business and funding for testing, and that’s good. That is a good thing. It’s not a bad thing. But it’s not enough, either.”

He also dismissed those who might be critical of his work with the president. “I don’t care if you like him or he likes you. We’re not setting up a possible marriage here. Just do the job, right? When you’re at war, you’re in a fox hole. Nobody says, well do you like the person you’re in the fox hole with. Who cares? You protect the other person in the fox hole. Then you get out of the fox hole and you take the hill, charge up the hill. That’s how we should be operating now.

“I don’t care what your politics are,” he added. “I don’t care what you think about my politics. It doesn’t matter. We both have a job to do. Let’s do the job. That was the spirit of the meeting yesterday, and it was very productive on what were very contentious, unclear issues.”

Watch above, via MSNBC.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!