Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday said he was left a bit puzzled after President Trump lobbed criticisms at him a day earlier, saying he was heeding Mr. Trump’s call for states to take on coronavirus testing by procuring 500,000 tests from South Korea.
“If there was an easier way, we certainly would have taken it,” Mr. Hogan said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “The president said that the governors are on their own and they should really focus on getting their own tests and that’s exactly what we did. His message changed yesterday - I’m not sure why.”
On Monday, Mr. Hogan announced that he managed to secure 500,000 COVID-19 testing kits from South Korea with the help of his wife Yumi, a Korean immigrant.
Mr. Trump has generally trained his fire in recent weeks on Democratic governors and lawmakers who have criticized the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
But the president singled out Mr. Hogan, a Republican, after the governor announced the deal on Monday.
“The governor of Maryland could have called Mike Pence, could have saved a lot of money,” Mr. Trump said at the White House coronavirus task force briefing.
Mr. Hogan reported that he did have a “great conversation” with Mr. Pence and the task force. Audio of the call showed the governor thanking the administration and exchanging cordial words with the vice president.
“The federal government is assisting us,” Mr. Hogan said on Tuesday. “Somehow it went off the rails yesterday in that press conference, but I have no idea why.”
Mr. Trump on Monday said the administration had provided governors with a list of labs in their respective states where they could find additional testing capacity.
“Some of the governors, like, as an example, the governor from Maryland didn’t really understand the list. He didn’t understand too much about what was going on,” the president said.
Mr. Hogan said Tuesday that the administration identified federally-owned labs in Maryland that don’t necessarily have testing capabilities.
“Yesterday, the vice president and the president committed to allowing the state of Maryland to use those federal labs, which we’re very appreciative of,” he said. “We now have the tests, they have the labs, and that should be a great solution.”
The governor also thanked the administration on Monday evening.
“I’m grateful to President Trump for sending us a list of federal labs and generously offering Maryland use of them for #COVID19 testing,” Mr. Hogan said on Twitter. “Accessing these federal labs will be critical for utilizing the 500,000 tests we have acquired from South Korea.”
Amid protests of stay-at-home restrictions in Maryland and elsewhere, Mr. Hogan also said he wants to reopen businesses in the state as quickly as possible.
“I want to get people back to work, I want our small businesses back open again,” he said. “But we’re not going to do it at a time when it’s going to be endangering lives.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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