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President Trump took another swipe at former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday, saying that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo “probably” would make for a better 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.
During a wide-ranging interview with “Fox & Friends,” the president detailed his administration’s latest actions in their response to the coronavirus pandemic. Biden for days has criticized Trump's response to the crisis, and the most recent Fox News Poll shows the likely Democratic presidential nominee holding a 9-point lead over Trump in a hypothetical general election match-up.
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“If Sleepy Joe was president, he wouldn’t even know what’s going on,” Trump shot back Monday.
The president was asked about reports of some in the Democratic field suggesting Cuomo should run for the Democratic nomination instead.
“If he’s gonna run, that’s fine, I’ve known Andrew for a long time,” Trump said. “I think he’d be a better candidate than Sleepy Joe.”
"I wouldn’t mind running against Andrew,” Trump said. “I don’t mind running against Joe Biden.”
He added: “I think probably Andrew would be better.”
TRUMP SAYS CORONAVIRUS TO PEAK 'AROUND EASTER'
Cuomo, the three-term governor of New York, which has been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, has become a fixture in the national media with his daily coronavirus briefings. Cuomo has received bipartisan praise, even from Biden, for his response in New York and leadership.
Cuomo has brushed aside campaign speculation as he combats the coronavirus in his state.
Cuomo announced Sunday that he is extending a statewide lockdown that he first ordered earlier this month, forcing nonessential workers to remain at home due to the coronavirus outbreak at least through April 15.
Meanwhile, the president predicted coronavirus cases in the U.S. will likely peak “around Easter” as he defended his administration’s decision to extend strict social distancing guidelines through the end of April – suggesting millions of lives could be saved by the measures.
“We’re doing a lot of things and we don’t want to do it too soon,” Trump said early Monday. “Around Easter is going to be your spike, we think, and then it’s going to start coming down from there.”
Trump added: “We think April 30 is a day where we can see some real progress. And we expect to see that, short of June 1, we think the death, it’s a terrible thing to say, will be brought to a very low number.”