The media teed up Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom for a hit on President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus – and for once, Newsom didn’t take the bait.
Instead, the California leader, who's been at odds with Trump over everything from the environment to immigration, said the White House has “followed through on” everything they have promised to the state and its handling of the outbreak, particularly in regard to the Grand Princess cruise, a ship docked of the coast of San Francisco that’s currently housing 21 passengers infected with the deadly disease.
When asked to respond to Trump’s comments that he'd prefer that none of the Grand Princess passengers disembark from the ship until they’re cleared of the illness, Newsom disregarded the question, saying his conversations with the administration “has been consistent with the expectation that we’d repatriate these passengers."
"President Trump has said he would prefer that none of the passengers aboard these cruises land on U.S. soil. Did he mention any of that to you in your conversation?" a reporter asked Newsom during a press briefing over the weekend.
“We had a private conversation, but [Trump] said, ‘We’re gonna do the right thing and you have my support, all of our support, logistically and otherwise.’ So before he made those statements publicly, I had a private conversation with him around 4:30 West Coast time. And he said everything that I could have hoped for. And we had a very long conversation and every single thing he said, they followed through on.”
“So I’m just not interested in finding daylight on those statements because every single thing his administration – and it starts at the top, including the vice president – has been consistent with the expectation that we’d repatriate these passengers and we’d do it in a way that does justice to the spirit that defines the best of our country and the state of California.”
California Gov. Newsom had kind words for Pres. Trump and Vice Pres. Pence when asked about the administration's handling of coronavirus and cruise ships:
— ABC News (@ABC) March 9, 2020
"We had a very long conversation, and every single he said they followed through on." https://t.co/iBPb6YBiQ0 pic.twitter.com/7bYjBdspno
(Cover Photo: Gage Skidmore)