Trump Backs off New York Metro Area Quarantine Talk
UPDATE: President Trump took to Twitter on Saturday night to announce that New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will not be quarantined. Earlier today, the president said he was considering the matter and faced pushback from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Trump supporters like Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
….Federal Government. A quarantine will not be necessary. Full details will be released by CDC tonight. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2020
Original story below:
***
On Saturday, President Trump’s mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis continued as he blindsided the governor of New York by telling the media that he may put in place a federally mandated quarantine on the New York metro region.
Trump first said that he just spoke with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, giving the impression that he told Cuomo that he was considering a quarantine because “New York is a hot spot” for COVID-19.
“There’s a possibility that sometime today we’ll do a quarantine — short-term two weeks on New York, probably New Jersey, certain parts of Connecticut,” the president said.
Trump continued, saying that restricting travel from New York would help slow the spread of the coronavirus to other states like Florida, adding, “This would be an enforceable quarantine.”
— PoliticsVideo23 (@politicsvideo23) March 28, 2020
The president followed up his statement to reporters with a tweet expressing the same message and obnoxiously using all caps when writing the word quarantine.
I am giving consideration to a QUARANTINE of developing “hot spots”, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. A decision will be made, one way or another, shortly.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2020
Soon after Trump’s remarks, Cuomo responded during his daily press briefing and said, “I didn’t speak to [Trump] about any quarantine. I don’t even know what that means,” the governor said. “I don’t know how that could be legally enforceable. From a medical point of view, I don’t know what you would be accomplishing. I don’t even like the sound of it.”
Maybe Trump was confused and possibly raised the idea of quarantine with former New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez when he reached out to the former slugger earlier this week seeking advice on a coronavirus response.
A source close to Rodriguez told @ABC the call with Trump was “pleasant” adding that Trump was seeking thoughts from ARod about the coronavirus response. Sources say there was no discussion of AROD or his fiancé Jennifer Lopez taking on any official effort.
— John Santucci (@Santucci) March 28, 2020