Trump Says He Told Pence to Ignore Governors in Hard-Hit Areas If They Are ‘Not Appreciative’

[Orangesapples 1,954]

The manchild's narcissism and pettiness knows no boundaries:

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-says-he-told-mike-pence-to-ignore-governors-in-hard-hit-areas-if-they-are-not-appreciative

 

Shortly after the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic reached 1,500 on Friday, President Donald Trump took to the podium at a White House press briefing and complained that certain state’s governors are not “appreciative” enough of the federal government’s help—so much so that he said he’d told Vice President Mike Pence, the leader of the coronavirus task force, to skip calling governors of some hard-hit areas.  

 

Trump singled out the Democratic leaders of Washington and Michigan, noting that he had advised Pence not to call them as the healthcare crisis plagues their states and people fall sick and die.

 “He calls all the governors,” Trump said. “I tell him, I mean, I’m a different type of person. I say Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington, you’re wasting your time with him. Don’t call the woman in Michigan.” 

 

“If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call,” Trump said. 

 

 

Michigan’s health department is reporting 3,657 COVID-19 cases and 92 deaths. In Washington, there have been 3,700 cases, according to the state, and 175 deaths. 

 

“We have done a hell of a job,” Trump said. “The federal government has really stepped up.”

 

Trump’s message to governors was that he wants “them to be appreciative.”

 

The president’s comments Friday come as the coronavirus pandemic continues to shut down American life and states across the nation show a lack of uniformity on aggressive public health measures aimed at preventing the spread of the virus. 

 

Earlier this week, Trump began to push on an Easter timeline to re-open the country, despite warnings that such a timeline was unwise. Even some Republican governors have pushed back. Despite his earlier emphasis on Easter, he hedged when asked about the topic Friday. 

 

“I certainly want to get it open as soon as possible, I don’t want it to be long,” Trump said. “But we also want it to open safe, otherwise, what did we do?”

At the start of the coronavirus task force briefing Trump said the nation’s governors “have been very gracious, for the most part.”

 

“A couple that aren’t appreciative of the incredible job,” Trump said. “They have to do a better job themselves, that’s part of the problem.”

 

He continued to praise his administration’s work, while scorning Washington Gov. Jay Inslee as “a failed presidential candidate.”

 

 

[90DayFinancier 910]

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5e7e962dc5b661492267b21b

 

PWhitmer told WWJ: “When the federal government told us that we needed to go it ourselves [on medical supplies], we started procuring every item we could get our hands on. But what I’ve gotten back is that vendors with whom we had  contracts are now being told not to send stuff here to Michigan.”

She added: “It’s really concerning. I reached out to the White House last night, asked for a phone call with the president, ironically at the time that all this other stuff was going on.”

Whitmer told CNN later in the day that the state’s shipments of personal protective equipment are being “canceled” or “delayed” — and sent instead to the federal government. She said it’s happening to other states as well.

Trump’s willingness to punish a state’s residents amid a pandemic over a feud with a governor appeared evident in a statement at his press briefing Friday. The president said he had instructed Vice President Mike Pence, who heads up the president’s coronavirus task force, not to call the governors of Washington or Michigan. The two states have among the highest number of coronavirus cases in the nation, and Michigan is experiencing a dramatic spike in cases from 350 a week ago to nearly 3,000 Friday.

“I say, ‘Mike, don’t call ... the woman in Michigan. It doesn’t make any difference what happens,’” Trump said.