Cuomo Rips DeSantis On COVID-19 Spike: ‘You Played Politics With This Virus And You Lost’

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2020/06/24: Governor Andrew Cuomo makes an announcement and holds media briefing at 3rd Avenue office. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont joined Cuomo with announcement of  incoming travel advisory that all individuals traveling from states with significant community spread of COVID-19 quarantine for a 14-day period from the time of last contact within the identified state. This quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) makes an announcement and holds media briefing at 3rd Avenue office on June 24, 2020. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Thursday had choice words for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and other Republican governors as coronavirus cases in several states spike.

During an interview on CNN on Thursday, Cuomo discussed the 14-day mandatory quarantine that he and other governors in the tri-state area instituted, which required travelers coming from coronavirus “hot spots” including Florida, Arizona and Texas to self-quarantine for two weeks.

Cuomo was then asked about his displeasure with DeSantis when he ordered a ban on travelers coming from New York. Cuomo responded that he said three months ago that “we’re playing politics with the virus and the virus is going to win.”

After a clip played of DeSantis saying “New York media was blowing a gasket” when he ordered a mandatory quarantine for those traveling from New York to Florida, Cuomo was pressed on what he would say to the Florida governor now that COVID-19 cases hit a new record in his state.

On Wednesday, Florida recorded more than 5,500 single day coronavirus cases. On average, Florida recorded over 3,000 cases per day in the past week.

Cuomo dug deeper into his criticism of DeSantis and other Republican governors for their approach to easing up coronavirus-related restrictions.

“I say to them all: Look at the numbers,” Cuomo said. “You played politics with this virus and you lost.”

Cuomo continued his tear by railing against Republican governors for treating the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic as “Democratic hyperbole.”

“You told the people of your state, and you told the people of this country, White House, ‘Don’t worry about it. Just open up, go about your business, this is all Democratic hyperbole,'” Cuomo said. “Oh, really? Now you see 27 states with the numbers going up. You see the death projections going up. You see the economy going down. It was never politics. It was always science. And they were in denial, and denial is not a life strategy.”

Watch Cuomo’s remarks below:

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