Andrew Cuomo slams Trump's claim of total authority, forms coronavirus council to discuss 'reopening' plan
In a blow to President Donald Trump’s authority, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday, April 13, brought together Democratic governors of five neighboring states to form a council on how to reopen the country. The move came after Trump said in a tweet that the decision of reopening was something he would take and slammed the ‘fake media’ whom he accused of creating confusion and conflict, saying it is the governors who would decide on the reopening of the states and not the president.
Cuomo, who has made the headlines in the times of the pandemic for leading his badly hit state from the front, held a televised conference that was attended by his counterparts from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware. It was revealed there that they were setting up a multi-state database to facilitate sharing information about the deadly virus and help come up with a reopening plan that they felt would happen in some weeks. The body was being called Cuomo’s coronavirus ‘council’ and he was open to anybody in the northeast to join it.
It was also decided that a health official, an economic official and the governor’s chief of staff from each of the six states will work on the plan. The council, seen as a local task force to guide the softening of the restrictions, will gradually lift the restrictions while minimizing the risk of the virus’ spread. All the member states sit along the ‘COVID corridor’, the I-95 highway which runs along the east coast from Florida to Maine, as described by one of the governors. Massachusetts, another state located in the belt, joined the regional group later on Monday even though it has a Republican governor.
Cuomo, who is in office since January 2011, has witnessed his relation with Trump blowing hot and cold in the times of the pandemic. The initiative to form the council featuring the governors, however, clearly indicated Cuomo’s challenging Trump’s authority.
Cuomo questions federal government's half-measures
When asked about Trump’s remarks centered on the president and federal government, the 62-year-old Cuomo challenged him to produce a plan. According to him, the federal government overlooked the responsibility of closing down the economy when the crisis started but then projected itself to be the authority to reopen it.
“He (Trump) left it to the states to close down and that was a state by state decision, without any guidance really. He took the position that it was a state's decision and that the states were responsible for purchasing supplies,” the New York Times quoted the NY governor as saying.
“That was the model of management for this disaster emergency,” he said, adding: “If they want to change the model, they can change the model. He’s the President of the United States. He’s the federal government. Let him change the model. But change the model and explain it.”
Cuomo, whose state faced a struggle to convince Trump over the requirement of several thousands of ventilators to fight the pandemic that claimed massive number of lives in a short span, further challenged the president by listing the things he would have to consider and come up with answers if he eyed implementation of a reopening plan for all 50 states.
“Are you going to say when each state will open and should open? Are you going to set a formula that says when this jurisdiction has this infection rate it can reopen? This is what can be on public transit, this is what can be on the roads,” Cuomo said. “Anyone that is on the roads has to follow these precautions. Testing. States don't have the capacity to test. It is not as simple as saying, 'states should.' They can’t without the federal government,” he added.
Cuomo said he did not view Trump’s remark on reopening emotionally when asked whether it frustrated him. He said he only sought clarity. “It is an interesting construct that it wasn't the fed responsibility to close the economy but it is to open the economy,” the governor added.
The other governors in the council praised Cuomo’s leadership both in the state and the country during the crisis. Delaware Governor John Carney thanked Cuomo for his leadership “'on a day to day basis under very difficult circumstances across the country”.
As the death rates in New York showed a slowdown, Cuomo said he believed the worst is over if they continued to act smart and can start on the path to restore normalcy. However, he cautioned that the decision to reopen banks on a delicate balance.
'I believe the worst is over if we continue to be smart and we can start on the path to normalcy and we can have a plan when you start to see some businesses reopening understanding the balance.
Three Western states also come up with a group
Cuomo’s council in the east was not something unparalleled in the country. In the west, too, something similar took shape. The blue governors of California, Oregon and Washington also announced an agreement whereby they share a vision for reopening the economies and controlling the pandemic in the future. The three governors said in a joint statement: “COVID-19 has preyed upon our interconnectedness. In the coming weeks, the West Coast will flip the script on COVID-19 – with our states acting in close coordination and collaboration to ensure the virus can never spread wildly in our communities.”
They also said in their joint statement that the decisions on easing the stay-at-home restrictions will be guided by “health outcomes and science -- not politics”.