Gov. Cuomo Fires Back at Trump in Blistering Speech: ‘He’s Sitting at Home Watching TV… Get Up and Go to Work’

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo snapped at President Donald Trump in 10 minute-long rant during his coronavirus press briefing on Friday, after the president said Cuomo should “spend more time ‘doing’ and less time ‘complaining’.”

During Cuomo’s Friday press conference, President Trump tweeted, “Governor Cuomo should spend more time ‘doing’ and less time ‘complaining’. Get out there and get the job done. Stop talking! We built you thousands of hospital beds that you didn’t need or use, gave large numbers of Ventilators that you should have had, and helped you with testing that you should be doing.”

After a reporter pointed out President Trump’s comments to Cuomo, the governor responded, “First of all, if he’s sitting at home watching TV, maybe he should get up and go to work, right? Second, let’s keep emotion and politics out of this and personal ego, if we can, because this is about the people, and it’s about our job, and let’s try to focus on that.”

Cuomo then noted, “If he didn’t really believe 2,500 beds was necessary, I don’t believe the federal government would have helped build 2,500 beds, and the number came from a projection from him. Him. So he should read the reports he issues. The White House Coronavirus Task Force had… projected in the millions of people. The CDC, which is the president, projected in the millions of people.”

“The projections were high. They were the president’s projections. So for him to say to anyone, ‘Well, you relied on projections, and the projections were wrong,’ they’re your projections, Mr. President. So, were we foolish for relying on your projections, Mr. President?” he continued. “CDC, Coronavirus White House Task Force, that’s you. White House, that’s you. We relied on your projections.”

Cuomo went on to explain that one of the reasons why numbers were lower than anticipated is because the nation came together to flatten the curve, adding, “But don’t suggest that anyone made a mistake relying on your projections.”

During the rant, Cuomo also declared that he doesn’t know what the president wants from him.

“What am I supposed to do? Send a bouquet of flowers? They were very helpful on Javits, they were very helpful on setting the U.S. Navy ship Comfort, they were very helpful in intervening with China and getting PPE equipment out of China. They were very helpful in helping us find ventilators. I said thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” Cuomo said. “Now, going forward, we are still in the midst of it.”

“The president doesn’t want to help on testing… I said, the one issue we need help with is testing. He said 11 times, ‘I don’t want to get involved in testing, it’s too complicated, it’s too hard.’ I know it’s too complicated and so hard, that’s why we need you to help. I can’t do an international supply chain,” the governor explained. “He wants to say, ‘Well, I did enough.’ Yeah, none of us have done enough. We haven’t, because it’s not over. So, yes, thank you for the Javits, thank you for the U.S. Navy ship Comfort, but it’s not over. We have a lot more to do.”

“What if I said to the people of my state, ‘Okay, I’m done. By the way, I saved hundreds of thousands of lives, I flattened the curve, I created more hospital beds than anyone ever imagined, I coordinated the entire state, I’m done. I’m done, I’m going home. I’m going to go see my mother, I’m going to go spend time with my kids, and I’m going to go out fishing in Connecticut because their marinas are open. That’s it, I’m done.’ What if I said that?” Cuomo questioned. “That’s what he’s saying. ‘I’m done, I don’t want to help on testing, testing is too hard.'”

Later on, Cuomo also opened fire on President Trump for his plan to reopen the country, pointing out, “It was always up to the states. What, are you going to grant me what the Constitution gave me before you were born? It’s called the 10th Amendment.”

“I didn’t need the President of the United States to tell me that I’m governor and I didn’t need the President of the United States to tell me the powers of a state. People did that. Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison. They are the ones who gave me the power, and I don’t need the president of the United States to read the Constitution for me,” he concluded. “Maybe he should have read the Constitution before he said he had the power to open the states.”

Watch above via CBS.

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