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Cuomo Pushes Back On Trump ‘Blue State Bailout’ Comments

Patrick Semansky
/
AP
Vice President Mike Pence, right, and President Donald Trump watch a video of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaking during a coronavirus task force briefing in April.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is criticizing President Donald Trump's comment that the federal government should bail out “blue states” whose budgets have been depleted by coronavirus problems.

New York is facing a $13 billion deficit, largely due to revenue declines from the economic shutdown.

Cuomo says it’s not a blue state versus red state issue and that many states run by Republican governors are also facing large shortfalls.

“The states make up the nation and we need financial help because of the coronavirus situation, and this is not any mismanagement by the states,” said Cuomo. “If anything, the mismanagement has been on behalf of the federal government.”

The governor says the federal government has allowed an imbalance to exist for decades. New York and other large states run by Democrats have paid billions more dollars in taxes to the federal government than they receive back in programs and benefits. Cuomo says blue states have essentially been bailing out red states for years.

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Karen has covered state government and politics for New York State Public Radio, a network of 10 New York and Connecticut stations, since 1990. She is also a regular contributor to the statewide public television program about New York State government, New York Now. She appears on the reporter’s roundtable segment, and interviews newsmakers.