LOCAL NEWS
Trump said calling Gov. Inslee is a waste of time
President Trump praised Vice President Mike Pence’s work with the Coronavirus Taskforce, specifically for keeping open lines of communication with the governors in every state when Trump admitted he would not do the same.
“He calls all the governors,” Trump said. “I tell him, I mean, I’m a different type of person, I say, ‘Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington, you’re wasting your time with him. Don’t call the woman in Michigan.’ … You know what I say? If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call. He’s a different type of person, he’ll call quietly anyway.”
“But he’s done a great job,” Trump added, complimenting Pence. “He should be appreciated for the job he’s done.”
In another remark during the same White House briefing on Friday, Trump called out Gov. Inslee’s presidential campaign.
“I think we’d done a great job for the state of Washington,” Trump said. “And I think the governor is a failed presidential candidate, as you know, he leveled out at zero in the polls. He’s constantly tripping and, I guess, complaining would be a nice way of saying it. We’re building hospitals. We’ve done a great job for the state of Washington.”
These comments come one day after The Washington Post reported that Inslee butted heads with President Trump over the role the White House is taking in the nation’s coronavirus response.
The President had told governors that his administration was operating as “backup” to states dealing with a outbreak on the front lines.
“We don’t need a backup — we need a Tom Brady,” Inslee responded.
Later on Thursday night, President Trump reiterated his stance to Fox News host Sean Hannity, labeling the White House as “a second line of attack.”
“The first line of attack is supposed to be the hospitals and the local government and the states,” he added.
States like Washington and New York have been asking the federal government for additional aid for weeks, calling for tens of thousands of ventilators, protective equipment, and more. That’s despite the President positing Thursday that “a lot of equipment is being asked for that I don’t think they’ll need.”
