(The Center Square) – A day after calling out New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for his handling of the city’s protests against police aggression, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday turned his attention toward President Donald Trump and his response to the nationwide demonstrations, which have turned violent in some communities.
With a Bible in hand, the governor made a reference to the president’s appearance with the holy book at a Washington church Monday night before quipping that New Yorkers actually read the book. He spouted a couple of verses before transitioning into a couple of quotes about using the military against civilian unrest.
One was his and the other was a comment made by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who said earlier in the morning there was no need at this time to invoke the Insurrection Act.
The remarks also came a day after Trump posted tweets lambasting the New York response to the riots and looting and calling on Cuomo to bring in the National Guard.
“New York’s Finest are not being allowed to perform their MAGIC but regardless, and with the momentum that the Radical Left and others have been allowed to build, they will need additional help. NYC is totally out of control,” Trump tweeted just late Tuesday night. “@NYCMayor & @NYGovCuomo MUST PUT DOWN RIOTING NOW!”
While Cuomo acknowledged the administration has helped the city with parts of the COVID-19 response, such as helping deploy additional hospital beds in the city as the pandemic reached its peak, he said Trump’s policies have been extremely harmful for the state. That includes passing a tax law that reduces the deduction of state and local income taxes and the failure to support key infrastructure projects.
“He has failed to do anything positive for New York,” Cuomo said. “He’s gone out of his way to be negative to New York.”
While Cuomo has said National Guard troops stand ready to support cities, he believes they are better used in other emergencies and that the New York City Police Department, the nation’s largest law enforcement agency, is well equipped to handle the demonstrations but they need to be deployed properly.
As for Tuesday’s events, Cuomo said he saw improvement, but he urged the protesters to cooperate. The best way they can do that is by adhering to the city’s 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.
“The police have to be there and be empowered to stop the looting and the chaos and the criminal behavior that people are trying to exploit this moment for their own selfish criminal purposes,” he added.
As the national response to the death of George Floyd reached its 10th day Wednesday, it also marked the 95th day in New York state’s COVID-19 emergency. The death toll dropped below 50 on Tuesday, the first time it reached that level since the early days of the pandemic.
This article was originally published on ‘He has failed to do anything positive for New York’: Cuomo bashes Trump on multiple topics
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