New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused President Trump at a press briefing Monday of "enabling the virus" by refusing to admit the U.S. is experiencing a real surge of COVID-19 cases.
Why it matters: The alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the U.S. is not due to increased testing, as President Trump has claimed as recently as this past weekend.
The big picture: While speaking at a Fourth of July celebration on Saturday, Trump said the U.S. has tested almost 40 million people and claimed that 99% of coronavirus cases are "totally harmless."
- Contradicting the president's unfounded claims, public health officials have said the nationwide surge in new cases is not simply a result of more testing.
- Read which states are seeing case growth outpace testing.
What he's saying:
- “[Trump] wants to deny the COVID virus," Cuomo said at a press conference. "He has from day one. ‘Well it’s just like the flu. Well it’s going to be gone by Easter. It’s going to get warm and disappear like a miracle.’ He’s said all of things, and none of them were true.”
- “We're not the United States of Denial. We have never been a nation that has excelled because we refused to admit the problem.”
- “If he does not acknowledge that, then he’s facilitating the virus. He’s enabling the virus. How did this become a political statement?"
