New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said President Trump is flat-out wrong when he says he can overrule state leaders in determining when to reopen businesses and relax social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“I don’t know what the president is talking about, frankly,” Mr. Cuomo said on NBC’s “Today” show. “States have power by the 10th Amendment, and the president’s just wrong on that point.”
Mr. Trump on Monday said a president’s authority is “total” and that he had the “ultimate authority” on when to start reopening things once the coronavirus crisis eases.
“If we don’t reopen correctly, you will see those virus numbers go up again, and more people will die,” said Mr. Cuomo, who has reported relatively positive trends in recent days in terms of hospitalizations and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in his state.
Mr. Cuomo, who has mixed flattery, tough love, and aggressive berating in his relationship with Mr. Trump during the pandemic, said he doesn’t have a time frame for when things might start to look like normal again.
“I don’t, and I think if anybody tells you they do, they don’t understand the issue ahead of us,” he said. “This is all uncharted territory.”
Mr. Cuomo and six other northeastern governors banded together on Monday to announce that they will try to coordinate strategy for when to reopen schools and businesses. The governors of California, Oregon and Washington announced a similar pact.
New York has been the hardest-hit state amid the coronavirus outbreak, with more than 195,000 cases and more than 10,000 deaths among its nearly 20 million residents.
More than 478,000 people in the state have been tested for the virus.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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