President Trump used a rollicking, wide-ranging Saturday press briefing to say how hurt he is that Gov. Andrew Cuomo, while grappling with the nation’s worst coronavirus hotspots, has been lacking in the gratitude department.
Trump is hurt that Cuomo, while grappling with the nation’s worst coronavirus hotspots, has been lacking in the gratitude department.
“We have given the governor of New York more than anybody has ever been given in a long time,” Trump said.
“And I think he’s happy but … I watched what he said today, and it was fine. I wouldn’t say gracious, it wasn’t gracious, it was OK.”
Mayor de Blasio, though, he pointed out, has been “nice.”
“I’ll tell you who’s been nice, Mayor de Blasio,” Trump said in a tone of surprise. “He understands what we’ve given him.”
At several points in the marathon 105-minute press conference, Trump returned to his cheerleading for an experimental coronavirus treatment — even volunteering himself as a test subject.
“In fact, I may take it myself,” he said of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. “I have to ask my doctor about that.
“We’re hearing really positive stories, and we’re continuing to collect the data,” he said of the medication, which is also prescribed for patients with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
“There’s a study out that says people with lupus are not catching this horrible virus … it’s a game-changer if it checks out.”
The FDA approved the drug for use in coronavirus patients on an emergency basis this week — and Trump said Saturday that there are 29 million doses of it in the national stockpile.
The president took another crack at ex-Navy Captain Brett Crozier, who was ousted as the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt last week after a COVID-19 outbreak swept through the ship.
“He wrote a letter,” Trump said. “A five-page letter from a captain. And the letter was all over the place… this isn’t a class on literature.”
Trump said he agreed “100 percent” with the Navy’s decision to bounce Crozier after his plea to get treatment for his crew was made public.
And he defended his Friday night firing of Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community who allowed an anonymous whistleblower complaint against Trump to be given to Congress, triggering his impeachment trial.
“That’s my decision. I have the absolute right,” Trump said of Atkinson’s dismissal. “That man was a disgrace to IGs, he’s a total disgrace.”
He once again lashed out at the whistleblower, who has still not been publicly named, for filing his report based on hearsay about a call Trump made to the President of Ukraine.
“You know who the whistleblower is, and so do ,” Trump told reporters. “And frankly somebody ought to sue his ass off.”
But he turned contemplative when talking about the upcoming Easter holidays, which begin Sunday when Christians celebrate Palm Sunday.
“I said, maybe we could allow something special for churches, maybe outside,” he mused.
But he said that the risk of spreading COVID-19 remains too great.
“I’m going to be watching [church services] on a computer, on a laptop,” he said. “How sad is it that we have Easter and Palm Sunday and people watching on their laptops?”