In a White House Press Briefing Monday, President Donald Trump stated that he has “ultimate authority” over state governors to decide when the country will reopen.
When pressed by reporters in the room, Trump maintained his belief that he in fact has constitutional authority over governors saying, “When somebody’s the President of the United States, the authority is total and that’s the way its gotta be. It’s total, and the governors know that.”
“You can look at constitutionally, you can look at federalism, you can look at it any different way. The fact that I don’t want to exert my power is much different. We have the power, you asked ‘Does the federal government have the power?’ The federal government has absolute power.”
But governors around the country have said constitutionally they have power over their state, not the federal government. (RELATED: Is Dr. Fauci Next On President Trump’s Chopping Block?)
“We have a Constitution, we don’t have a king,” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in response to the President’s comments. “And the Constitution clearly says the powers that are not specifically listed for the federal government are reserved to the states.”
Six states on the east coast announced Monday that they are working together to develop their own plan on how to reopen their economies. This is due to their location to one another and the amount of interstate traffic they all share.
California, Oregon and Washington on the west coast have said they too are forming a plan together.
In response to these plans, President Trump compared the state’s actions to a film “Mutiny on the Bounty,” Tweeting, “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!”
Take a look at what happened during and after President Trump’s pronouncement.