New York governor Andrew Cuomo (D.) said Tuesday that his Maryland counterpart Larry Hogan (R.) proved to be a "better governor" than he is, pointing to Hogan's acquisition of 500,000 coronavirus tests from South Korea for his state.
Cuomo said during his Tuesday briefing on the pandemic that his daughters hammered him after they saw on the news that Hogan managed to get tests shipped to Maryland from Korea.
"One of my other daughters who is a little more pointed in life, a little more literal, said, 'Why didn't you think of that, dad?'" Cuomo said. "So I was really just feeling de minimis as a governor. Larry Hogan is a better governor."
"We're sitting there watching the news," he said. "Gov. Hogan says, 'I got [500,000] test kits from South Korea.' My daughter turns to me and looks at me and says, 'Wow, that was really smart.'"
"God bless Larry Hogan, he really thought outside the box and was very creative," Cuomo said.
Cuomo has criticized the administration for how it has called on states to take the lead in obtaining tests and other medical equipment to deal with the pandemic. He said during Tuesday's briefing that governors should not be responsible for taking action like Hogan did and that the federal government should step in to help the states with foreign purchases.
Trump has countered Cuomo's criticism, taking credit Monday for effectively managing the supply of ventilators. The president drew attention to the fact that Cuomo had vastly overestimated New York's need of the life-saving machines. After Cuomo demanded 40,000 ventilators in March, the state began giving away some of its 12,000-machine supply in April citing the lack of demand.
Hogan's wife, Yumi Hogan, immigrated from South Korea and speaks Korean fluently. She negotiated directly to obtain the test kits, the New York Times reported. Gov. Hogan was intent on obtaining the tests even though it appeared the FDA may hold up the shipment, which arrived in Maryland via Korean Air on Saturday.
"I was frosted because my team was saying that the FDA approval was going to hold it up," Hogan said. "I didn't care and was going to get the tests anyway."
"Luckily we had a very strong relationship with Korea," Hogan said. "But it should not have been this difficult."