New York Gov Cuomo: We have a president, not a ‘king’

In this March 2, 2020 file photo New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, and Mayor Bill de Blasio discuss the state and city’s preparedness for the spread of coronavirus at a news conference in New York. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized President Donald Trump’s claim of “total” authority to reopen the nation’s virus-stalled economy, saying Tuesday he was talking more like a king than a president.

The Democratic governor criticized Trump’s assertion Monday that “when somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total.”

“His proclamation is that he would be king, that’s what a king is,” Cuomo said at his daily briefing. “A king has total authority. That statement cannot stand.”

The Republican president made his comments after Cuomo and governors on both coasts announced multi-state compacts to coordinate reopening society amid the global pandemic.

Cuomo said restarting the economy must be done cautiously, or the hard-won gains of the past month could be quickly lost.

In a tweet Tuesday, Trump appeared to liken the governors to mutinous crew members in the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty.”

Cuomo said the president was “clearly unhappy.” But after taking aim at the president’s comments Tuesday in multiple TV appearances and during his state Capitol briefing, Cuomo said he would not engage in a fight with him.

“The president is clearly spoiling for a fight on this issue,” Cuomo said. “This is too important for anyone to play politics.”