Chris Cuomo tells Fla. Gov. DeSantis to shush after he railed against the media for coronavirus coverage

On Cuomo Prime Time Monday night, Chris Cuomo called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who railed against the media for its reporting on his handling of the coronavirus not long before Florida would become a national hotspot for new cases.

“You got a lot of people in your profession who waxed poetically for weeks and weeks about how Florida was gonna be just like New York,” DeSantis said, wagging his finger at the media standing in front of him. “Wait two weeks, Florida’s gonna be next. Just like Italy, wait two weeks,” said DeSantis impersonating the media, before adding, “Well, hell, we’re eight weeks away from that and it hasn’t happened.”

Cuomo mocked DeSantis’s gestures before asking, “What now?” Then, with his finger to his lips, gave a belittling “Shhhhhh.”

As coronavirus cases first began to surge across the country, DeSantis regularly looked to the White House for guidance, something Cuomo alluded to in blaming DeSantis for the current situation in Florida.

“Florida health officials reported nearly 10,000 new coronavirus cases on Saturday. Its highest single day since the start of the pandemic,” Cuomo said. “He made Trump happy, Gov. DeSantis did, and now more Floridians than they can count accurately appear to be sick.”

Florida is one of a handful of states, including Texas, that were among the first to reopen that are now closing things down again. Cuomo pointed out that even Vice President Mike Pence is slowly beginning to take a new approach to the coronavirus. Pence recently postponed campaign events in Florida and Arizona due to the extreme increase in coronavirus cases in both states.

“Even Pence, who you saw silently by DeSantis’s side as he spewed nonsense, seems to be his strongest asset as an ally, even he is now saying you should wear a mask,” Cuomo said. “That’s good since he’s the head of the coronavirus task force. It’s bad that he is only saying so now.”

On Monday night, the hashtag #TrumpKillsFlorida started trending on Twitter, but Florida isn’t alone in seeing a sudden spike in new cases as states attempt to reopen.

“More than half our states have growing cases now. Sixteen are currently having to pause or roll back reopenings because they did not do the right things the right ways,” Cuomo said. “Texas, parts of California, bars have been directed to close back down. The secretary of Health and Human Services says the window is closing for us to get this right.”

Cuomo Prime Time airs weeknights at 9 p.m. on CNN.

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• What to do if you think you have the coronavirus

• What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

• Glossary of public health terms to stay informed

• The most common ways the coronavirus is transmitted

• How to maintain your physical and mental health during the pandemic

• Taking care of a loved one with COVID-19? Here’s how to stay healthy

• COVID-19 and pregnancy: What we know so far

• How to find a job, unemployment insurance

• Q&A with Dr. Kavita Patel: How to keep your family safe and maintain your mental health

• Opening and cleaning delivery packages

• Tips for grocery shopping

• How to deal with potentially contaminated money

• How to do your laundry safely

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