WATCH: Nicolle Wallace Accuses Miami Mayor of ‘Stunning’ Failure to Read the News After He Refuses to Attack Republicans
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on Monday accused Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) of a “stunning” failure to read the news after he declined her invitations to criticize Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and President Donald Trump’s Centers for Disease Control.
Wallace began the afternoon interview by asking Suarez to attack both Republican executives. “I just wonder … how counterproductive it is to have someone like DeSantis as your governor and Trump as the president?” Wallace said.
Suarez — who has previously said he’s undecided about which candidate we’ll vote for in the 2020 presidential race, despite registering as a Republican — noted that he would like to see one or both men impose a mandate requiring Americans to wear masks, but refused to attack them personally. “Look, I think that, you know, our governor has done things that I’m appreciative of. He answered all my calls,” Suarez said.
Wallace moved her focus to the federal level. “Do you feel like the tone set at the federal level had this backward? That we’ll go back to work first and we’ll beat the pandemic later?” Wallace asked.
“I think the CDC, which is supposed to be the governmental entity that guides us throughout this, has not been, either — I don’t know what the reason is — but they have not given us as much guidance as we would like to see,” Suarez replied. He began describing his answer, but Wallace, growing frustrated, interjected. “Let me interrupt you, sir. Do you really not know what the reason is?”
“You can tell me what the reasons are,” Suarez replied, smiling. “I just read the papers,” Wallace responded.
“To me, it doesn’t matter what the reasons are,” Suarez explained, launching into his line of reasoning “We need that guidance. We need the CDC to do what it’s supposed to do. We need the CDC to tell governments like us, with the expert that it has, exactly what actions need to be taken and when, because cities like ours don’t have a health department. We rely on health departments like the health department and the federal CDC to make decisions. Otherwise we have to cobble together our own set of experts to make decisions like the ones we’ve been making up to this point.”
After a brief exchange about how Miami was communicating with the federal government, Wallace expressed her disbelief with Suarez, who she claimed hadn’t been reading the news.
“You’re the mayor of — you’re a mayor of a huge city in a hot spot, and it’s stunning to me you haven’t read the public reporting that the vice president is using public appearances to squash CDC guidelines, or diminish them when it comes to the debate around public school openings,” Wallace said. “I’ve spent time in Miami. I know you get The New York Times there. … You must be aware, sir, that the CDC is trying to help people like yourself.”
The White House has increasingly expressed skepticism over the CDC’s performance during the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration this month instructed hospitals to report data about the spread of coronavirus to the Department of Health and Human Services rather than to continue their practice of providing the data to the CDC. Critics have said the move makes information about the epidemic — including about medical supplies and the number of Americans infected — less transparent, while Trump allies have complained about errors in the CDC’s handling of data and argued it exaggerated the pandemic.
The administration has also advised deviating from some of the CDC’s guidelines for handling the pandemic. Vice President Mike Pence last week called for public schools to reopen this fall — contrary to CDC guidance — saying it was in the “best interests” of students.
Suarez closed by informing Wallace the CDC’s guidance was “certainly not getting to us.” He added, “If it’s political that it’s not getting to us, then that’s inappropriate, without a doubt. To me, this is not a political or a partisan issue.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
