Cuomo hits back at Trump, McConnell over federal aid for states due to coronavirus
In a press conference on Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded to a tweet by President Trump in which he said the federal government should not be “bailing out poorly run” democratic-led states. Cuomo said this is not the time to be keeping track of who contributed the most money, but said that New York and other states that have been hit hard by the coronavirus and have Democratic governors give more money to the federal government than states like Kentucky. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a republican from Kentucky, said last week that states should consider bankruptcy as a response to financial hardship due to the pandemic.
Video Transcript
ANDREW CUOMO: Bailout, this is not the time to be talking about dollars and cents among members of a community that are trying to be mutually supportive and help each other. Because helping each other is the way we actually all advance, right? So this is not the time to be saying, well, you put in dollar more than I did, or I put in $5 more than you did, right?
It's anachronistic to the concept of community, and sharing, and mutuality, and sharing benefits and burdens. I'm wearing a mask to protect you. You're wearing a mask to protect me. That kind of sharing and mutuality is repugnant to this bailout. You've got this much. I got this much.
But if you want to go to who's getting bailed out and who paid what, nobody would be bailing out New York State. New York State has been bailing them out every year for decades. If you want to do an analysis of who is a giver and who is a taker, we are the number one giver, the number one giver. Nobody puts more money into the pot than the state of New York. We're the number one donor state.
And if you want to look at who happened to be the donor states, who are the giver states, they are the same states that they're talking about now. Who are the taker states? Kentucky, southeast part of the country. And by the way, I understand we're one nation.
You put into the pot what you need. I put in what I need. You take what you need. You take what you need, and that's the way it's always been. But if you actually want to call for an accounting, which I think is repugnant to this time, and I don't think it's constructive. And I don't think it's healthy.
But if you want to call for an accounting, you're making a mistake. Because you lose if we do an accounting. You lose, and you happen to be 180 degrees wrong in what you're suggesting.
- So that phrase may not--
ANDREW CUOMO: I would say, first, at this moment in time when people are working together, and people are sharing, and people are sending ventilators across the nation to be helpful, and 60,000 people are volunteering to help New York State. And they're showing love, and they're showing unity. And they're showing mutuality and community. That is such a beautiful moment, right?
And it tends to happen after a crisis. We saw it after 9/11. People just come together. We're Americans first. We're not Democrats. We're not Republicans. We're not east coast. We're not west coast. We're not northern. We're not southern.
We're just Americans. That is such a beautiful, special moment. To now say in the middle of that moment, who knows what to whom? What? You want to talk about money now?
This is not about money. It's about working together, and helping, and sharing. And people are dying, and it's about grief. And it's about comfort. It's not about money.
But if you want to make it about money, you're making a mistake. Because you're going to lose on a tally sheet, and it's not even going to be close. But you want to tally up who owes what to whom? Go ahead. It's not even close.
