‘You won’t see [DeSantis] here. Why? Because he’s got nothing to say…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) CNN’s Chris Cuomo mocked Ron DeSantis for reopening Florida “too soon” on Monday, accusing the governor of triggering a surge of coronavirus cases in his state.
But Cuomo has nothing but praise for his older brother, Andrew, the New York governor whose handling of the pandemic is statistically much worse than DeSantis’s — or any other governor’s for that matter.
“He made Trump happy, Governor DeSantis did, and now more Floridians than they can count accurately appear to be sick,” Cuomo said.
Playing a clip from May of DeSantis’s rant about the mainstream media’s coverage of his coronavirus policies, Cuomo mimicked the Florida governor’s gestures and then snarked, “What now? Not going to hear him here. You won’t see him here. Why? Because he’s got nothing to say.”
COVID-19 cases are reappearing quickly in Florida, and DeSantis admitted this week that it’s been difficult to contain the virus when the tourist season is at its height. However, cellphone data analyzed by the Miami Herald shows that Floridians were leaving their homes frequently before DeSantis even initiated reopenings on May 4.
But according to Cuomo, DeSantis is to blame, although the CNN anchor was unwilling to apply that same level of scrutiny to his brother, whose disastrous policies contributed to New York’s coronavirus outbreak — especially in the state’s nursing homes.
More than half of all coronavirus-related deaths have occurred in New York’s nursing homes, according to the New York Times. Gov. Cuomo passed a policy in March forcing nursing homes to accept COVID-19 positive patients, essentially turning long-term care facilities into breeding grounds. As a result, more than 6,000 elderly, vulnerable New Yorkers have died from COVID-19 within the state’s nursing homes.
Chris Cuomo failed to mention this when he interviewed his big brother last week. Instead, he praised him as the “best politician” in the country, claiming that he “stepped up in an unusual way” to fill the “vacuum of power on a federal level.” Chris Cuomo later admitted that his comments weren’t “objective,” but he refused to apologize.
“Not objective but true, the facts tell the story,” Chris Cuomo said a follow-up statement on Twitter. “NY had & has its struggles but they’re doing way better than what we see elsewhere & no way that happens without the Luv Guv dishing the real 24/7.”
New York has had more positive cases, more deaths, and more hospitalizations than any other state, including Florida. Andrew Cuomo has tried to argue that these numbers were inevitable, but multiple health experts have said that his slow response at the start of the virus contributed to its rapid spread.