Watch: Psaki Dodges Questions on Cuomo’s Leadership Amid Nursing Home Deaths Investigation

White House press secretary Jen Psaki avoided responding to questions about whether President Biden still believed Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) is the “gold standard” in leadership during the coronavirus pandemic during an appearance on Sunday’s broadcast of ABC’s “This Week.”

Anchor Jonathan Karl said, “OKy, I want to turn to another controversy that raged this week. Andrew Cuomo under fire for allegedly not being transparent and misleading on the number of nursing home deaths in New York. Last spring, President Biden cited Andrew Cuomo as the gold standard for leadership during the pandemic. Take a listen.”

In a video clip Biden said, “Your governor of New York has done one hell of a job. I think he’s sort of the gold standard.”

Karl said, “So, now, we’ve seen that Governor Cuomo has allegedly undercounted nursing home deaths, misled legislators in New York  and he called the New York Assemblyman Ron Kim, raising questions basically threatening to destroy him, I think was his actual words. So does President Biden still consider Andrew Cuomo the gold standard when it comes to leadership on the pandemic?”

Psaki said, “Well, Jon, we work with Governor Cuomo just like we work with governors across the country. He’s also the chair of the NGA, so he plays an important role in ensuring that we are coordinating closely and getting assistance out to people of his state and states across the country. We’ll continue to do that. Of course, there will be a process, an investigations, we’ll leave that to others to determine how that path is going to move as we look forward. But we’ll continue to work with a range of governors, including of course Governor Cuomo, because we believe the people of New York, states across the country, need assistance not only to get through the pandemic but to get through this difficult economic time and that’s where our focus remains.”

Karl pressed, “Jen, my question was, does President Biden still believe that Andrew Cuomo represents the gold standard on leadership during this pandemic? Just a yes or no.”

Psaki said, “Well, it doesn’t always have to be a yes or no answer, Jon. I think the president is focused on his goal, his objectives as president of the United States. I’m not here to give new labels or names from the president, I’m here to communicate with you about what our focuses are and what his objectives are as president of the United States. He’ll continue to work with Governor Cuomo as well as other governors across the country. I’m not here to give new labels and names from the president. I’m here to communicate with our focuses are.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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