In the last two weeks America has become the epicentre of the covid-19 disaster, and that's terrible news for Americans because the country managed to elect Donald Trump as its president 4 years ago. The coronavirus has again exposed Trump for the buffoon he is, but it also proven that there are politicians in the country with a conscience, namely Andrew Cuomo, New York's current governor.
In a legitimately bonkers press conference yesterday, the American president declared he had 'total authority' to determine when the country was ready to open again. That idea has been repeatedly refuted by the governors of the states hardest ht by covid-19. For one, it's against the best advice of public health experts. For two, it's not how the American constitution operates.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo held his own press event today and provided a lesson in how to deal with Trump's bluster. He remained cool and gave Trump a much-needed lesson in how America's checks and balances system operates. More importantly, he rose above Trump's bait and maintained the focused leadership he has projected throughout this crisis.
Cuomo to Trump: We Don't Have A King
"The president said last night he has total authority for determining how and when states reopen,” NY Gov. Cuomo says.
“That is not an accurate statement, in my opinion ... we do not have a King in this country."https://t.co/qRpCuGpuS6 pic.twitter.com/uGf4lhCT0e— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 14, 2020
In what can only be described as a nice touch, his livestream also included a line from famous Founding Father Alexander Hamilton on the importance of state government.
“State governments possess inherent advantages, which will ever give them an influence & ascendency over the Nat'l Gov & will forever preclude the possibility of federal encroachments. That their liberties can be subverted by the federal head is repugnant...”
In the process, Cuomo literally schooled the president in how American government works.
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, because we don't reopen correctly, you will see those virus numbers go up again, and more people will die,”
“We don't have a king — we have a president, and that was a big decision," Cuomo said. "We ran away from having a king, and George Washington was president, not King Washington so the president doesn't have total authority. The Constitution is there, the 10th Amendment is there. ... It's very clear states have power by the 10th amendment.”
Cuomo went on to quote a famous Carl Sandburg line: 'suppose they gave a war and nobody came'.
“Sometimes it takes more strength, frankly, to walk away from a fight than to engage it,” he added.
“The basic essence of [Trump’s] tweet was that he was not happy with governors and this was a mutiny. The president is clearly spoiling for a fight on the issue. The worst thing we can do with all of this is start with political division and partisanship” — Gov. Cuomo.
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) April 14, 2020
The whole presser is worth watching as Cuomo proves that are actually still decent people involved in government in the US.
The stakes are so high as America seeks to corral the coronavirus, but in Cuomo, Trump has found his kryptonite. The New York governor is showing the rest of America what leadership is. It's a pity he's not president.
