Governor Cuomo did a couple of interviews this morning and in both he was asked about Trump’s claim to alone have total authority to reopen the states:
POLITICO – Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York warned Tuesday that he and President Donald Trump “would have a problem” if the White House forged ahead with plans to reopen the state absent Albany’s approval, setting the stage for a potential constitutional clash against the backdrop of a global pandemic.
“Look, if he pushed it to that absurd point, then we would have a problem,” Cuomo told NBC’s “Today” show, when asked what would happen if Trump moved to resume daily life in New York in defiance of the state government’s wishes.
“If he thinks he’s going to force this state or any state, for that matter, to do something that is reckless or irresponsible, that could endanger human life, literally,” Cuomo said. “Because if we don’t reopen correctly, you will see those virus numbers go up again, and more people will die.”
In another interview Tuesday morning on CNN’s “New Day,” Cuomo explicitly threatened legal action against the administration if Trump “ordered me to reopen in a way that would endanger the public health” of New Yorkers.
“We would have a constitutional challenge between the state and the federal government, and that would go into the courts, and that would be the worst possible thing he could do at this moment,” he said.
Note that Cuomo considers this to be a somewhat absurd point, not really believing Trump would force the states to open since he’s not operated that way up until now. But even so, he responded that Trump is not a king and doesn’t have the authority he claims, referring back to the 10th amendment as well as the fact that the federal government was created for the states.
Trump apparently wasn’t happy with Cuomo’s comments this morning and responded this way on Twitter saying “Cuomo’s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state’s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won’t happen!”
Cuomo’s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state’s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won’t happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2020
And just like that all the good will of the past few weeks seems to go right out the window. Sometimes Trump really can sound like an authoritarian, as he does in the tweet above. I’m happy to say he’s never governed as an authoritarian or dictator, no matter what the left might say. But occasionally he can sound like one when he rants on Twitter.
As far as I can tell Cuomo is right on the money in what he said in the Today Show interview. Why Trump is trying to force the notion that he has total authority here just boggles my mind. This has in many ways become a scandal of Trump’s own making. And for the life of me I don’t know why he wants to take complete authority for reopening the states. In taking complete authority he’s just asking Democrats to blame him for everything that happens in the run up to the election. This is an odd political strategy to say the least, especially when the truth is the opposite.
UPDATE: Trump just added this tweet. I’ve never seen the movie but it appears he’s sending a message to the governors:
Tell the Democrat Governors that “Mutiny On The Bounty” was one of my all time favorite movies. A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain. Too easy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2020