New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced on Wednesday that his state will no longer follow COVID-19 testing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asserting that the agency has become too politicized by President Donald Trump to be credible.
Following news that the CDC was changing its guidelines to state that asymptomatic people don’t need to be tested, Cuomo slammed the agency for “allowing the president to politically interfere with public health.”
“We need a real public health watchdog in this nation,” the governor told Katy Tur. “We need public health people who do public health, and not politics. And we’re going to disregard the CDC guidance totally.”
Cuomo pointed to Trump openly discouraging expansion of COVID-19 testing on the grounds that increased testing shows higher case numbers, which pose a major threat to his reelection chances in November.
“This is all political propaganda,” the governor said. “The election season is in full cycle.”
Listen to Cuomo below:
Cuomo says NY will "disregard the CDC guidance totally" because “we need public health people who do public health, and not politics." pic.twitter.com/oDZFsnqX3g
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 26, 2020
