WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 11: US President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Oval Office about the widening Coronavirus crisis on March 11, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump said the US will suspend all travel from Europe - except the UK - for the next 30 days. Since December 2019, Coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected more than 109,000 people and killed more than 3,800 people in 105 countries
President Donald Trump boasted of his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying that he doesn’t believe states need as much medical equipment as they are requesting.
“I think that a lot of things are being said that are more,” Trump told Sean Hannity during a call-in interview on Fox News. “I don’t think certain things will materialize, a lot of equipment is being asked for that I don’t think they’ll need.”
He then said the federal government is not in charge of managing states’ equipment and response.
“But we are building four medical centers and many other things we have developed and sent thousands of ventilators and hopefully, they’re going to do well but you have to know, this has to be managed by local government and by the governors,” Trump added. “Can’t be managed by the federal government.”
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He then targeted New York for their request for over 30,000 ventilators.
“I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they are going to be,” Trump said. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You know, you go to major hospitals, sometimes they have two ventilators.”
New York state makes up nearly half of the reported coronavirus cases in the U.S., with 43,611 active cases and over 600 deaths.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) fired back on Twitter that the number is based off statistical projections and he hopes there ultimately is no need for that many ventilators.
“I hope NY doesn’t ultimately need 30,000 ventilators,” he tweeted. “But I don’t operate on opinion and hope. I operate on facts and data and science. All the projections say we will need 30,000-40,000 ventilators. So that is what we will strive to have.”
During the interview, Trump also took shots at two other governors struggling to obtain the equipment they need to slow the outbreak.
He called Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) — whose state was the first to get hit by the virus — a “failed presidential candidate” who is “always complaining” and “should be doing more” for his state. He then went after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), who he said has not been “stepping up” or been “pleasant.”
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