Gaetz: COVID-19 response in Florida, NY 'tale of two governors'
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., discusses why he thinks NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo has mishandled the pandemic.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is blaming the news media for putting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on a pedestal despite his bungled handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including withholding unfavorable information about the state's nursing home COVID-19 deaths, according to a top aide.
The aide reportedly told Democratic leaders that the administration was concerned that the data "was going to be used against us."
"The media is absolutely culpable in advancing this mythology of Cuomo that is belied by the facts," he told "Justice with Judge Jeanine" Saturday. "And the facts keep getting uglier and uglier."
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Gaetz explained that the media treated Cuomo as an "oracle" of the pandemic while targeting former President Donald Trump for his response to the virus.
"The 45th president put us on the path to the fastest, safest vaccine development the world has ever know," he said. "And we are still seeing the consequence of President Trump's actions in the saving of lives and, sadly, we're only starting to unearth the extent to which the actions of Gov. Cuomo cost lives."
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The congressman said Cuomo and his team were able to shave down the number of deaths by ignoring patients who were exposed in nursing homes but died in hospitals.
"They were doing it to cover up the choices that they made that put blood on their hands," he said.
Gaetz pegged the coronavirus response in Florida compared to New York as a "tale of two governors." In Florida, he said, the National Guard was used to ensure nursing homes remained clean of virus contamination, while the younger, less-affected generations have been given the free will to "live their lives."
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"Whereas in New York, they've destroyed small businesses, they've destroyed education," he said. "And then the folks they were supposed to be taking care of the most, they put in the most peril."
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