Donald Trump Jr.'s Tweet About Chris Cuomo Is Turning Heads

New York governor Andrew Cuomo has a problem on his hands. After failing to address criticism for most of last year that his policies resulted in thousands of COVID-related deaths in nursing homes, the third-term Democrat now faces the reality that the state's coronavirus death toll at its nursing homes was actually much higher than was earlier reported. The new data for those facilities, according to The New York Times, adds 3,800 more deaths, an increase of 40%. Note that this does not change the state's COVID-related death toll overall; only where those deaths occurred. Governor Cuomo had dismissed past criticism of his handling of the virus in nursing homes as being partisan, a political "blame game". But he will need to answer now for these new numbers, as reported by New York's attorney general Letitia James , a fellow Democrat. With the release of the 76-page report, James said in a statement, "While we cannot bring back the individuals we lost to this crisis, this report seeks to offer transparency that the public deserves." And yet, with all of this facing Cuomo, Donald Trump Jr. somehow managed to snatch a public relations defeat from the potential jaws of victory by sharing the Times' story and taking it as an opportunity to try and discredit both the New York governor and his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo (whom Don Jr. has tweeted about and at before). His tweet proclaimed: "Don't worry folks Chris Cuomo is going to be all over this one!" The internet didn't take the comment sitting down. After Donald Trump Jr.'s tweet Thursday, users were quick to remind him how his father handled the pandemic during his time in office, often playing down the seriousness of the virus. The former president told the American people back on March 10th, 2020, "Just stay calm. It will go away." One user remarked to the tweet: "I'm old enough to remember when Andrew Cuomo asked your daddy for help when dealing with COVID-19. He never got that help, if anyone is responsible for those nursing home deaths it's your father." Another reminded Don Jr. of the ever-changing narrative that the country saw as the pandemic was unfolding, saying: "So you went from saying that Covid was being over reported and heart attacks were being reported as Covid (when both were listed) to now they underreported? What ever fits your narrative at the moment, eh?" A third pointed out: "Imagine if Daddy would have told Cuomo the information he needed to know. It's a simple concept, really, Don Jr. It's called Cause and Effect. Daddy knew!" In June of 2020, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted that he was going to interview his dad for the Team Trump show "Triggered." In announcing it, Don Jr. couldn't help but add a critique of Chris Cuomo, saying: "Guys, unlike CNN and Chris Cuomo when he interviews his brother, I'm not pretending to be a journalist here. This is just me having a fun conversation with my dad." While Don Jr. appeared to call into question Chris Cuomo's journalistic integrity again on Thursday, Twitter had a reply. One user posted a screenshot of an early Donald Trump tweet about the pandemic, which said: "So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus (sic), with 22 deaths. Think about that!" The user's caption: "Don't worry folks Donald Trump Jr is going to be all over this one!" #Trump #Cuomo #DonaldTrumpJr