Appearing on Wednesday’s 3rd Hour Today show, Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was treated to a softball interview from co-host Savannah Guthrie, even as he pushed for massive New Deal-era spending and slammed continued construction of the southern border wall during the coronavirus pandemic.
“One other thing, you heard Secretary Mnuchin, a thousand dollars in people’s pockets is not enough, it’s not going to allow people to stay whole and be able to afford the basics in life,” the far-left politician complained, referring to the nearly trillion-dollar economic stimulus package working its way through Congress.
He went on to proclaim: “Washington has to get real, if we’re going to have an unemployment level that looks like the Great Depression, we need a massive federal relief program that looks like the Great Depression so people are kept whole economically or they will not have money for food or medicine. That’s what I fear.”
Rather than challenge de Blasio’s radical policy proposals, Guthrie simply noted: “Well, these are the early days, I mean, there’s so much to fear right now. You talked about, if you had to do a shelter-in-place, that question of how people get those critical needs.”
After the anchor asked “whether there are sufficient resources in the city right now,” the Mayor ranted:
I spent a few weeks trying to reassure New Yorkers because we did have a lot of capacity, we do have a lot of capacity, but at this point with the trajectory of the disease, we have to be honest. If there is not a profound federal intervention quickly to ensure that we have more ventilators, we have more surgical masks, all the basic supplies, if the federal government does not get involved quickly, and specifically the United States military. And I spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday, the military has extraordinary medical capacity, it’s needed in places like New York right now.
But it’s quite clear that the administration in Washington has not mobilized the American military. There is still – there are American military officers right now still building a wall at the southern border when all they should be doing domestically is addressing coronavirus....the American military is being sidelined when they should be given the chance to get in this game and help us all.
Not one word followed from Guthrie pushing back on de Blasio’s blatant attempt to politicize the crisis.
Here is a transcript of the March 18 exchange:
9:49 AM ET
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BILL DE BLASIO: One other thing, you heard Secretary Mnuchin, a thousand dollars in people’s pockets is not enough, it’s not going to allow people to stay whole and be able to afford the basics in life. Washington has to get real, if we’re going to have an unemployment level that looks like the Great Depression, we need a massive federal relief program that looks like the Great Depression so people are kept whole economically or they will not have money for food or medicine. That’s what I fear.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Well, these are the early days, I mean, there’s so much to fear right now. You talked about, if you had to do a shelter-in-place, that question of how people get those critical needs. The other issue, as you well know, is our capacity in hospitals, the supplies, the ventilators, the respirators, the protective equipment, where does that stand in your mind right now, in terms of your own needs and whether there are sufficient resources in the city right now?
DE BLASIO: Savannah, you know, I spent a few weeks trying to reassure New Yorkers because we did have a lot of capacity, we do have a lot of capacity, but at this point with the trajectory of the disease, we have to be honest. If there is not a profound federal intervention quickly to ensure that we have more ventilators, we have more surgical masks, all the basic supplies, if the federal government does not get involved quickly, and specifically the United States military. And I spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday, the military has extraordinary medical capacity, it’s needed in places like New York right now.
But it’s quite clear that the administration in Washington has not mobilized the American military. There is still – there are American military officers right now still building a wall at the southern border when all they should be doing domestically is addressing coronavirus. We need their medical resources, their logistical know-how. We need them to help ensure that food and medicine moves around this country and our supply chain is not disrupted. Right now, we are in the midst of a crisis we have not seen for generations, Savannah, and yet the American military is being sidelined when they should be given the chance to get in this game and help us all.
(...)
