Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised New York’s coronavirus response and criticized the federal government’s response during his Monday speech at the Democratic National Convention.
“We’ve climbed the impossible mountain, and now we are on the other side,” Cuomo began, praising New York City’s current low infection rate.
“COVID is the symptom, not the illness,” he said. “Our nation is in crisis, and in many ways, COVID is just a metaphor.” (RELATED: Report: New York City To Begin Moving Homeless People Out Of Hotels)
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The governor criticized America for being divided.
“A virus attacks when the body is weak and when it cannot defend itself,” Cuomo continued. “Only a strong body can fight off the virus, and America’s divisions have weakened it.”
“Donald Trump didn’t create the initial division. The division created Trump,” he added. “He only made it worse.”
Cuomo then compared the federal government to the country’s immune system, calling it “dysfunctional and incompetent.”
“The European virus infected the Northeast while the White House was still fixated on China,” Cuomo said. “The virus had been attacking us for months before we even knew it was here.”
Cuomo said that the federal government watched and “learned absolutely nothing” while New York was crushed by the coronavirus.
New York was once the hotbed of the coronavirus outbreak. The state had more than 32,000 coronavirus deaths, 6,000 of which were reportedly in nursing homes. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: New York Admits Knowingly Undercounting Nursing Home Deaths After Quietly Changing Reporting Rules)
The governor has been criticized for his response to the pandemic, which included an order forcing nursing homes to take in patients who tested positive for the coronavirus.
