New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo slammed “incompetent government” as responsible for COVID-19 deaths in two interviews on Tuesday, but the claim got pushback from critics on social media.
In the first sit-down with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday, Cuomo asserted former President Donald Trump and an incompetent federal response was to blame.
"This state, I’m very proud of what New Yorkers have done, because they have rallied. We were ambushed like no other state, Nicolle, and again, it was from federal incompetence," Cuomo said.
"Incompetent government kills people. More people died than needed to die in COVID. That’s the truth."
Later, he appeared on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” and repeated the accusation.
"Look, incompetent government can kill people, this is not a joke, and more people died here than needed to," Cuomo told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
Some Twitter critics were having none of it.
According to the Associated Press, there were 6,600 deaths at nursing home properties in New York State. Fox News’ Janice Dean, whose in-laws died of the virus in their separate elder care facilities in New York, bashed the governor for his lack of self-awareness.
“I wonder if @NYGovCuomo will one day remember all the seniors he helped kill in New York,” she tweeted Wednesday.
Fox News noted New York state came under intense criticism for its March 2020 decision to issue a directive that required nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients released from hospitals. The directive was reversed in May.
After his second interview, some Twitter posters mocked him.
"Some self-reflection?" a former county commissioner from Pennsylvania, Dean Browning, asked.
The Daily Caller’s Greg Price wondered if the statement was "his confession."
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