NYC official whose mom died of coronavirus says Trump ‘has blood on his hands’

A New York City official said President Trump has his “mom’s blood on his hands” after the official’s mother died from COVID-19 lat week.

“In New York City this is playing out in so many families and I got to tell you Donald Trump has blood on his hands and he has my mom’s blood on his hands,” New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. 

Arlene Stringer-Cuevas had been a former New York City councilwoman. She died Friday at the age of 86.

“If you had said to me, what would ultimately have my mother fall, I’d never thought it’d be some virus … Donald Trump has blood on his hands and he has my mom’s blood on his hands,” NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer says. pic.twitter.com/J0NqP1BCd7

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) April 6, 2020

The city’s comptroller expressed anger toward Trump, specifically because the hospital ship USNS Comfort that was sent to New York had not accepted coronavirus patients.

When Cooper asked him if he was angry about the hospital ship, Stringer responded, “I think we all are.”

The Comfort and USNS Mercy, a similar Navy hospital ship docked in California, were intended to take non-coronavirus patients, like those suffering traumas, to relieve pressure on hospitals dealing with an influx of COVID-19 patients.

The Hill reached out to the White House for comment. 

“If you had said to me, what would ultimately have my mother fall, I’d never thought it’d be some virus and it is still hard to get around that,” Stringer told CNN.

“How do you mourn at a time you can’t connect with people?” he added.

New York City has recorded almost 65,000 cases of coronavirus, leading to 14,205 hospitalizations and 2,472 deaths, as of Sunday evening. The city remains a hot spot in the state with the most cases and deaths involving coronavirus across the country.

The president’s critics have accused him and his administration of not acting fast enough as the virus spread across the country. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) tweeted on Monday that Trump approved a request to allow the naval hospital ship to assist people from New Jersey.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said in his Monday press briefing that he intended to ask the president to allow coronavirus patients on the Comfort.