White House press secretary Jen Psaki avoided questions on Sunday about whether President Biden still believes that Governor Andrew Cuomo represents the “gold standard” for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic amid the scandal over deaths in nursing homes. elderly in New York.
The president described Cuomo as “a kind of gold standard” last spring, when the governor was being praised for his daily television briefings on how the state was dealing with COVID-19.
ABC News “This Week” host Jon Karl asked Psaki if Biden still had that opinion.
“We work with Governor Cuomo in the same way that we work with governors across the country,” said Psaki, without answering the question, but noting that Cuomo is the president of the National Association of Governors.
“It plays an important role in ensuring that we are closely coordinating obtaining assistance for people in your state and for states across the country and we will continue to do so.”
“And there is, of course, there will be a process. There are investigations. We will leave it up to others to determine – the appropriate police authorities to determine how this path will move as we look to the future, ”said Psaki.
The FBI and the United States attorney in Brooklyn are investigating the Cuomo administration amid revelations that it has retained the total number of nursing home residents who died of coronavirus for fear that the Trump administration would retaliate politically.
Karl continued to pressure Psaki to see if Biden still had the same vision as Cuomo.
“Well, it doesn’t always have to be a yes or no answer, Jon. I think the president is focused on his goals, his goals as president of the United States. He will continue to work with Governor Cuomo, just as he will continue to work with governors across the country, ”she said, continuing to evade.
“And I’m not here to give new labels or names for the president. I am here to communicate to you what are our focuses and what are your goals as president ”.