‘A Breaking of the Constitution’: Cuomo Scorches the Earth With ‘King Trump’ in Three Morning TV Appearances
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has, in recent days, dished out enough kind words about President Donald Trump to earn a place in Monday’s campaign-style video produced by the White House touting bipartisan praise. But if there’s a sequel, Cuomo all but ensured he won’t be in it — thanks to a thorough flogging of the president which the governor administered in three morning TV appearances Tuesday.
First, Cuomo visited the Today show — where he condemned the president for his claim that he has “total authority” in deciding when to reopen states. Today host Hoda Kotb gave Cuomo a hypothetical — asking what would happen if Trump called for New York to re-open against the governor’s wishes.
“If he pushed it to that absurd point, then we would have a problem,” Cuomo said. “If he thinks he’s going to force this state — or any state, for that matter — to do something that is reckless or irresponsible that could endanger human life, literally … because if we don’t reopen correctly, you will see those virus numbers go up again and more people will die.”
Next up was CNN’s New Day — where Cuomo bashed the president for pulling “a 180” by making a power grab after initially ceding control to states.
“It makes no sense, it’s schizophrenic,” Cuomo said. He added, “The first position, he stepped back and said ‘it’s up to the states.’ This is stepping forward and trying to step over the states — which is frankly, I think, more partisan, more divisive, and more dangerous.”
But the New York governor saved his harshest criticism for last. Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Cuomo went off on Trump for trying to wrest total control from states at Monday’s briefing.
“This wasn’t a bending of the constitution, what the president said last night, it was a breaking of the constitution,” he said. “He basically declared himself King Trump, right? And all that annoying federal state back-and-forth that our Founding Fathers went through, he just disregarded that and said ‘total authority.’ Then, we could’ve had King George Washington.”
Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski asked Cuomo if he’d seen the president’s two hour briefing on Monday.
“Would there be value for a governor to watch that?” Brzezinski asked.
Cuomo scoffed.
“No, a governor should not watch that,” Cuomo said. “There’s no value in it. It is infuriating, and offensive, and frankly, ignorant of the facts. The president stood up and said, ‘Forget the Constitution of the United States. Forget the concept of federalism.’
“To hear a Republican stand up there, by the way, and argue big government and total authority of the Federal government is somewhat amusing. If it wasn’t so serious, it could be funny, all of this. It could be a comedy skit. It’s frightening. It’s frightening. This is the last place we should be, this crazy politics, this absurd positioning when we’re talking about life and death.”
Watch above, via NBC, CNN, and MSNBC.
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