We don’t have king in US’: New York Guv on Trump’s total authority comment

By Yoshita Singh

New York, Apr 14 (PTI) New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday hit back at US President Donald Trump for his comment on having total authority over states, saying America does not have a king .

Cuomo was responding to the comments made by Trump during the White House briefing on Monday when he said that the President has total authority over when the restrictions imposed across the country due to coronavirus can be lifted.

The federal-state relationship is central to our democracy. We have to remember today that the balance between the state and the federal articulated in the constitution is the essence of our democracy.

We don't a have a king in this country, we didn't want a king so we have a constitution and we elect the president, Cuomo said in his daily coronavirus briefing.

Trump had said that when somebody is the President of the United States, the authority is total and that is the way it has got to be.

The authority of the President of the United States having to do with the subject we're talking about is total, he had said, adding that "They can't do anything without the approval of the President of the United States .

Cuomo said the President's comment that he has total authority for determining how and when states reopen is not an accurate statement in my opinion.

He said Trump's remarks that he has total authority over the states and the nation cannot go uncorrected. It's just a factual statement that is factually wrong.

That statement cannot stand. It is not only violative of the constitution, it is violative of the very concept of democracy, he said.

Cuomo said the total number of hospitalisations continues to go down and remains flat, a good sign we think we are at the apex on the plateau.

New York state recorded 778 more deaths on April 13, taking the death toll to 10,834.

You look at the past few days and the number of lives lost, it's basically flat at a devastating level of pain and grief, he said, adding that other evidence suggests that the state is seeing a flattening of the curve.

Cuomo said in his briefing on Monday that the President was clearly unhappy.

The Governor also referred to a number of tweets by Trump attacking him and state governors.

Cuomo's been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state's responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won't happen! a tweet by Trump read.

Another tweet said: Tell the Democrat Governors that Mutiny On The Bounty' was one of my all time favorite movies. A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain. Too easy!

Cuomo said he did not follow the exact meaning of the tweet but added that he understood that Trump was not happy with Governors.

The President is clearly spoiling for a fight on this issue. The worst thing we can do in all of this is start with political division and start with partisanship.

The best thing we have done throughout this past 44 days is we work together and we haven't raised political flags, Cuomo said, adding that even though this is an election year, we said not here, not in this. This is too important for anyone to play politics.

Cuomo recalled that he had seen a poster in his grade school which had the message suppose they gave a war and nobody came , meaning that what would happen if people just refused to engage, refused to fight.

He said sometimes it is better to walk away from a fight than engage in it.

Sometimes it takes more strength frankly to walk away from a fight than engage in it. The President will have no fight with me. I will not engage in it, Cuomo said, adding that he has been clear this is not about me, it's about we.

The Governor said this is no time for politics and no time to fight.

I put my hand out in total partnership and cooperation with the President. If he wants a fight, he is not going to get it from me. Period, he said.

Cuomo warned that there is a real challenge ahead and just because the curve appears to be flattening, it does not mean one can relax.

We are not out of the woods. In this reopening, we could lose all the progress we made in one week if we do it wrong, he said.

The Governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Delaware have joined forces to coordinate a regional plan for restoring the economy ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic and getting people back to work, Cuomo said, adding that the worst is over for the state.

Cuomo along with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Delaware Governor John Carney and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo on Monday announced the creation of a multi-state council.

The coordinating group will comprise one health expert, an economic development expert and the respective Chief of Staff from each state and will work together to develop a fully integrated regional framework to gradually lift the states' stay at home orders while minimising the risk of increased spread of the virus.