Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday pushed back on President Trump’s suggestion that New York is mismanaging its trove of coronavirus supplies, inviting the president to lay bare his claims.
“If he wants to make an accusation, then let him make an accusation,” said Cuomo, speaking in a press briefing from the makeshift federal hospital erected at Manhattan’s Javits Center.
Trump on Sunday suggested that valuable supplies afforded by the federal government were being pilfered by New York hospital workers, and on Monday ordered federal agencies to ship directly to hospitals, after some materials including critical ventilators were found sitting in a New Jersey warehouse.
Cuomo didn’t deny that some supplies were being stashed across the Hudson — saying that it made perfect sense, with over 1,200 deaths, over 66,000 cases and the worst yet to come.
“We’re creating a stockpile,” he said. “For someone to say, ‘Well, the warehouse has equipment in it, you should be using that equipment today,’ that defies the basic concept of planning.
“If you are not preparing for the apex, and for the high point, you are missing the entire point of the operation. It is a fundamental blunder to only prepare for today.”
Cuomo has alternated in recent weeks between blasting Trump and his administration for stiffing New York on sorely needed supplies, and thanking the president for his “cooperation.”
The governor insisted Monday that he’s a “tangler” willing to take on any political challengers, but that the oncoming fury of the contagion necessitate unity.
“This is a deadly serious situation,” he said. “If there is division at this time, the virus will defeat us.”
