Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., on Thursday ripped both New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for their coronavirus response.
“I’d be happy to act as the fact-checker to Gov. Cuomo as he continues to lie to the American people,” Stefanik told “Fox & Friends.”
“First of all, when he talks about the mountain we climb, that’s the mountain of deaths,” Stefanik said.
Stefanik said that many of New York’s deaths were caused by Cuomo’s “failed and failed nursing home policies.”
“We lost more people in the state of New York than any other state across the country because of this mismanagement by the governor of New York state,” Stefanik said.
GOV. CUOMO ROASTED FOR ANNOUNCING BOOK ON COVID RESPONSE: 'DOWNRIGHT GHASTLY'
Cuomo is under fire for announcing Tuesday that he will author a book, “American Crisis,” about his handling of coronavirus.
“I didn’t realize this whole thing was over and elected officials had time to write books and reflect on it now,” Washington Post book critic Carlos Lozada wrote.
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Cuomo is regularly blamed for thousands of deaths in New York’s nursing homes after his controversial policy in late March essentially ordered nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients from hospitals, a measure designed to free up hospital beds. Cuomo eventually reversed the order in May and has been widely criticized for the way the situation was handled.
As a result, social media was shocked when news broke on Tuesday morning that Cuomo would write a new book about his experience overseeing New York amid the pandemic. “American Crisis” will be released Oct. 13 and plenty of people took to Twitter with thoughts.
“WTF,” journalist Yashar Ali wrote. “He’s writing a book in the midst of an ongoing crisis???”
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Stefanik said that the federal government provided support to New York by sending the Navy's USS Comfort ship, which she claimed was never used. She also said federal officials' policy guidance on nursing homes was ignored by Cuomo.
Stefanik expressed frustration over Cuomo spending more time on his “book deal” as opposed to consoling New Yorkers who “lost loved ones.”
“When it comes to the federal support, the federal government and President Trump provided more support to New York state than any other state in the nation because we were the epicenter, because of the failed leadership, not just of Gov. Cuomo but Mayor de Blasio.”
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.