New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced at his press conference Thursday that he will give away more ventilators; he has acquired thousands of them to bolster his state stockpile.
The governor said he will send 100 ventilators to New Jersey, in addition to the 100 he sent to Michigan and 50 he sent to Maryland.
“New Jersey is still looking at their curve rising,” Cuomo said. “They’re our neighbors. Anything we can do to help…”
Cuomo spent weeks spreading the alarm in March that there might not be enough ventilators for New York, demanding that the federal government provide him 30,000 to 40,000 ventilators for his stockpile.
“You pick the 26,000 people who are going to die,” Cuomo said in a press conference in March in a strong message to President Donald Trump and the federal government.
Trump was widely criticized for challenging the numbers in March, asserting in an interview that Cuomo probably did not need that many ventilators.
“I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they’re going to be,” he said in an interview with Sean Hannity. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators.”
The federal government sent 4,000 to New York, but Cuomo still acquired another 1,000 ventilators from China and even deployed the National Guard to seize and redistribute ventilators in his state.
The governor said Wednesday that he is grateful for other states donating ventilators to New York and that he is ready to return the favor.
“I said at the time, New Yorkers are generous, and they are grateful and gracious, and when you need help, we will be there for you,” he said.