Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said on Tuesday that he was taken aback by President Donald Trump’s resentment over Hogan’s wife, Yumi Hogan, securing 500,000 COVID-19 testing kits from South Korea as Maryland and other states suffer a shortage of testing supplies.
“Just yesterday he was saying that the governors are responsible for this, they’re on the front lines, so we should just get it done,” the governor told the MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-hosts. “And then we did get it done, and then we got criticized.”
Hogan said before Trump attacked him during the press briefing on Monday evening, he and the other governors had had a “great conversation” in their call with Vice President Mike Pence and the White House’s coronavirus task force earlier in the day.
“And then somehow it went off the rails yesterday in that press conference, but I have no idea why,” the Maryland governor said.
During the press briefing, Trump claimed out of nowhere that Hogan “didn’t really understand what was going on” with regards to the federal government’s response to testing kit shortages, and that the governor would’ve “saved a lot of money” if he’d talked to Pence about the need for kits.
“I don’t think he needed to go to South Korea,” Trump told reporters. “I think he needed to get a little knowledge.”
Over the course of the COVID-19 outbreak, Trump has refused to take responsibility for the medical supply crisis, including testing kit shortages, and has instead deflected the blame onto the governors.
Watch Hogan below:
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he has "no idea" why Trump suddenly attacked him last night. pic.twitter.com/tsPOXs22yG
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) April 21, 2020