Governor Cuomo: "The President can do two things. First, sign an executive order directing everyone to wear a mask. How we're at this point as a nation and we still haven't done the simple, easy, minimal step of saying you must wear a mask when you're in public? The President doesn't have to pass a piece of legislation, doesn't have to call the Congress, just sign an executive order saying wear a mask."
Cuomo: "Then let the President lead by example and let the President put a mask on it because we know it works. We've proven that it works in the State of New York."
Earlier today at a briefing, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo called on President Trump to sign an executive order requiring Americans to wear masks in necessary situations to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The Governor also called on the President to lead by example by wearing a mask.
VIDEO of the Governor's remarks is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.
PHOTOS will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
And to the President— because if we're going to turn this around in this nation, it's going to take the White House— and to the President, I say today, if you want to help stop COVID-19, then they should start telling the people of this country the truth. And the truth starts with how large a problem this is and how real a threat COVID is. It's the leadership to stand up and tell the American people, "look at the increase across the country, look at what's happening to this country vis-a-vis the other countries, look how it's hurt the economy, it is a real threat."
And to start simply, the President can do two things. First, sign an executive order directing everyone to wear a mask. How we're at this point as a nation and we still haven't done the simple, easy, minimal step of saying you must wear a mask when you're in public? The President doesn't have to pass a piece of legislation, doesn't have to call the Congress, just sign an executive order saying wear a mask. We did it two months ago in this state. The other states are just starting to do it now. States that were recalcitrant, governors that said, "We don't need to do this. Masks don't work."
All the political nonsense we heard, now they're doing a 180 and you have the same states now wearing masks. Let the President have the same sense and do that as an executive order. Then let the President lead by example and let the President put a mask on it because we know it works. We've proven that it works in the State of New York. The President can still be New York tough and New York smart and united and disciplined and loving.
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