Cuomo says Trump has ‘delivered for New York’ but can be ‘vicious’

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New York Gov. Cuomo: Antibody test could be critical in speeding up return to normalcy

Fox News correspondent Bryan Llenas reports.

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, saying that the president “has delivered for New York.”

Speaking during a lengthy interview with radio shock jock Howard Stern, the New York Democrat said that Trump, for the most part, has put politics aside amid the crisis and got Cuomo the aid he needs to deal with the nation’s largest and most deadly outbreak of COVID-19.

“This is not about politics, this is not about personalities. We have to be better than that for the jobs that we do,” Cuomo said on “The Howard Stern Show.” “I put my hand out in partnership to work with you. And we’ll call it straight. And if you do the right thing by New York, I’ll say it. And if you don’t, I’ll say it.”

Cuomo added: “That’s the plain truth in this situation. And since then, Howard, he’s been good in delivering for New York. He has. He’s delivered for New York.”

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Before the outbreak, Cuomo and New York had a contentious relationship to say the least, but the two have played nice as each tries to get New York and the rest of the country back to some semblance of normalcy as quickly as possible. Cuomo said that while Trump can be “vicious in attacks” – especially when it comes to the governor’s brother, CNN personality Chris Cuomo, who he’s derisively called “Fredo” in the past – the president has apparently been genuinely concerned about those sickened with COVID-19.

“The president always makes a point of saying to me ‘How is Chris? Is he doing OK?’ and that’s not in his usual character,” Cuomo said. “You know, we’re not chit-chatty when we’re on the phone. But he always makes a point to say that about Chris and always remembers my mother.”

Cuomo noted that he also has generally a direct line to the president when he calls for help or to update the White House on the situation on the ground in New York.

“It’s amazingly simple. He’s amazingly accessible,” Cuomo said. “Either he gets on the phone or he calls me back in 10 minutes.”

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New York has been the hardest hit state in the U.S., which has more than 190,000 confirmed cases – more than any other country in the world. New York City and the surrounding metropolitan area – the country’s largest -- has been ravaged by the contagion, with the city alone registering over 104,000 confirmed cases and just under 6,900 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

New York City registered more than 700 deaths from the virus on Sunday and images taken last week of wooden caskets being buried in a mass graves on the city’s Hart Island shocked the nation and even the governor.

“I can’t get over the death numbers every day. I can’t. And I can’t rationalize it,” Cuomo said. “I can’t get past the death numbers. There’s nothing that abates that pain.”