Cuomo calls for more federal help on testing; Trump immediately fires back
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday said that states need better funding from the federal government for testing to help reopen the economy, which sparked a real-time response from President Trump on Twitter.
Cuomo, who at his press briefing issued an executive order that directs all public and private New York State labs to coordinate with the Department of Health to prioritize diagnostic testing, took at swipe at the Trump administration for failing to "pass the bucks" to ramp up testing in the state.
"If we don't have federal help on testing, we have a real problem," the governor said, adding that the federal government “cannot wipe their hands of this and say the states are responsible.”
During the press conference, the president took to Twitter, suggested the governor "spend more time 'doing' and less time 'complaining.'"
Trump accused Cuomo of being ungrateful for the resources given to New York, which include the USNS Comfort, the FEMA-assembled hospital at the Javits Center, and thousands of ventilators.
After a reporter asked Cuomo about the president’s tweets during his press conference, the governor said that he had already thanked Trump countless times.
“What am I supposed to do, send a bouquet of flowers? I said thank you, thank you, thank you,” Cuomo said.
Trump tweeted throughout Cuomo's briefing, saying that states "need to step up their TESTING!" He also noted that Cuomo "ridiculously" asked for 40,000 ventilators.
Cuomo said a fully synchronized statewide testing process is what the state needs to begin a reopening, but said it cannot be done without the federal government's help.
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