New York Gov. Cuomo slams Trump coronavirus response as ‘virus of American division and federal incompetence’

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday slammed President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response, describing the pandemic in the U.S. as a “virus of American division and federal incompetence.”

“It will be a double-barreled shotgun of incompetence,” Cuomo told reporters during a press briefing in Albany. “You know what virus is worse than Covid? The virus of American division and federal incompetence. That’s the virus that’s wreaking havoc on this country.”

Cuomo pointed to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that he said proved one of his longstanding claims: The coronavirus came to New York, which was once the epicenter of the global outbreak, predominantly from Europe and not China.

The report, which studied 544 specimens collected by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene collected in March, found that 6.6% of specimens tested positive for Covid-19.

Using genetic sequencing, the CDC determined most of the Covid-19 positive specimens resembled those circulating in Europe, “suggesting probable introductions of SARS-CoV-2 from Europe, from other U.S. locations, and local introductions from within New York.”