CNN’s Tapper rips Cuomo ‘crowing’ about COVID-19 handling: ‘No other state has lost as many lives’

CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday said he found it “perplexing” to see New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) “crowing” about his handling of the coronavirus crisis given the high number of deaths in the state.

Tapper, who anchors the network’s “State of the Union” program, made his remarks on Twitter after Cuomo’s Monday appearance on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

“NY state has lost more than 32,000 lives to COVID-19. So while it’s great that the numbers have gone down, it’s perplexing to see crowing, Cuomo going on Fallon, etc. No other state has lost as many lives, not even close. New Jersey is next with 17,000+,” Tapper wrote to his more than 2.6 million followers.

NY state has lost more than 32,000 lives to COVID-19. So while it’s great that the numbers have gone down, it’s perplexing to see crowing, Cuomo going on Fallon, etc. No other state has lost as many lives, not even close. New Jersey is next with 17,000+https://t.co/aIphqXdWYz

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 14, 2020

Cuomo has not faced the same level of criticism as some other governors, despite New York having the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the country. New York City, which early in the pandemic was the epicenter in the U.S., recently recorded its first day without a coronavirus death since the outbreak began.

But Cuomo has faced scrutiny for his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic. Almost 6,500 deaths have occurred in 509 nursing home facilities in the state, with critics saying a March 25 order from Cuomo is largely to blame.

“I’ve taken political heat, OK? There are facts and there’s politics,” Cuomo told NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd in late June. “There’s no doubt in nursing homes across this nation, that’s where we saw most of the deaths,” Cuomo said.