New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker chided the Trump administration for its collaboration with states amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, Booker appeared on ABC’s The View to speak about growing calls for states to begin reopening businesses as over 20.5 million people filed for unemployment in the month of April alone.
“People want to go back to work. What do you need to hear to feel comfortable with states reopening?” asked co-host Sunny Hostin.
In response, Booker said states need to adhere to the advice of medical professionals rather than open too soon, warning that it could produce a dangerous second wave of contagion.
“What really frustrates me is that I hear people using militaristic terms. This is a war, I’ve heard people say that. Well, if that’s the case, what we should be doing is not having this kind of perverse hunger games where you have, literally, governors competing against each other for the critical resources they need. We didn’t do that in World War II. We had a national mobilization to meet the threat to our nation,” he said.
On several occasions, Democratic governors such as Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York have lauded the administration for providing states with personal protective equipment, such as masks, and ventilators for hospitals. In the past, Trump has said he would like states to try to obtain certain equipment without the assistance of the federal government, but is willing to employ federal resources if necessary.
“This is a president who is trying to say this is still like the Articles of Confederation. All the states are on their own. No. We’re the United States of America, and this president should be stepping up, using the Defense Production Act and more to make sure that we are producing the materials we need to get out of this,” Booker said.
He then blamed the president’s attitude for triggering “partisan animosity” during the pandemic.
“Our president now is demeaning, degrading, divisive, insulting people, calling out governors, tweeting out the most impulsively ridiculous things about liberating states when everybody in this country wants to keep human lives safe. He seems to want to try to trigger partisan animosity to better help his reelection. We need leadership on the national level, and I’m frustrated how this president is not rising to this occasion,” said Booker.
