President Trump attacked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for allowing New York to be “completely unprepared” for the coronavirus outbreak.
The president traded barbs with the New York Democrat on Thursday after he accused him of neglecting his state because of his fixation with impeaching him.
Trump accused Schumer of being “missing in action, except when it comes to the press,” in a scathing letter defending his administration which followed a series of media appearances, tweets and a letter Schumer sent to the president early Thursday.
Urging the president in his letter to establish a czar with a military background to oversee the production of medical equipment, Schumer also pushed the idea and criticized the federal response to the pandemic in multiple media interviews during the week.
“America cannot rely on a patchwork of uncoordinated voluntary efforts to combat the awful magnitude of this pandemic,” Schumer wrote. “The existing federal leadership void has left America with an ugly spectacle in which States and cities are literally fending for themselves, often in conflict and competition with each other.”
This is the letter from Schumer that Trump is responding to pic.twitter.com/2yHJTTVlTl
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) April 2, 2020
Trump fired off a tweet pointing out that his administration already has “a military man in charge of distributing goods, a very talented Admiral,” referring to Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, who is overseeing FEMA’s supply chain task force.
Somebody please explain to Cryin’ Chuck Schumer that we do have a military man in charge of distributing goods, a very talented Admiral, in fact. New York has gotten far more than any other State, including hospitals & a hospital ship, but no matter what, always complaining…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2020
He also noted that New York “got off to a late start” in its response to the COVID-19 crisis, telling the senator to not only “stop complaining” but adding that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is “working hard!”
…It wouldn’t matter if you got ten times what was needed, it would never be good enough. Unlike other states, New York unfortunately got off to a late start. You should have pushed harder. Stop complaining & find out where all of these supplies are going. Cuomo working hard!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2020
Things reached a climax Thursday as Trump’s letter to Schumer was made public.
“Thank you for your Democrat public relations letter and incorrect sound bites, which are wrong in every way,” he began with a sarcastic opening line.
Defending Polowczyk, Trump said the admiral is “working 24 hours a day, and is highly respected by everyone,” while also giving a shout out to the federal response in New York as “hospitals, medical centers, medical supplies, record numbers of ventilators, and more” have been provided.
.@realDonaldTrump with a mic drop letter to Chuck Schumer. pic.twitter.com/WsREogW8gc
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) April 2, 2020
Trump told the Democrat senator that he “should have had New York better prepared,” before ripping into the House impeachment trial against him which led to the Senate acquitting him of the charges.
“If you spent less time on your ridiculous impeachment hoax, which went haplessly on forever and ended up going nowhere (Except increasing my poll numbers), and instead focused on helping the people of New York, then New York would not have been so completely unprepared for the ‘invisible enemy,'” Trump wrote.
“No wonder AOC and others are thinking about running against you in the primary. If they did, they would likely win,” he added, referring to New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“I’ve known you for many years, but I never knew how bad a Senator you are for the state of New York, until I became President,” Trump, a former New York resident, wrote.
Schumer was “appalled” at the president’s letter, he said later on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes,” telling Trump to “stop the pettiness — people are dying.”
When I sent Pres. Trump a serious letter on getting critical medical supplies to our frontline fighters, he responded with a petty, unserious letter.
To the President:
Americans are dying and losing jobs. Businesses are teetering. Stop the pettiness. Be a leader. Do your job.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 3, 2020
Pearl-clutching Democrats predictably expressed their horror at the president’s dress-down of the senator. But Twitter reverberated with the gasps and roaring applause from many who thought it was the long-deserved rebuke Schumer needed.
This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. Every word of it was perfect.
— Phil, Doctor of Mystical Science (@philllosoraptor) April 2, 2020
This letter from Trump to Schumer belongs in the Burn book from Mean Girls… pic.twitter.com/EoJirUwdo9
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) April 2, 2020
