President Trump criticized Gov. Larry Hogan's purchase of 500,000 coronavirus tests from South Korea, saying he 'could have saved a lot of money' if he had asked Washington instead.
Trump and other White House officials have sought for days to deflect criticism from states that the federal government has not done enough toto begin reopening businesses and lifting stay-at-home orders. Among the most vocal governors pushing back on that narrative has been Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
Trump fired back Monday, and took the rare step of repeatedly criticizing a governor from his own party during the daily briefing with White House reporters. Trump went on to criticize Hogan's purchase of tests from South Korea. The president said that Hogan"could have saved a lot of money" if he had asked Washington instead. He later said"a little knowledge" would have been helpful for the governor.
Hogan has, in fact, been arguing for additional testing for weeks. Governors and some health officials have said labs are hamstrung by a lack of swabs and reagents needed to conduct the tests. Trump threatened this weekend to use the Korea War-era Defense Production Act to speed the manufacture of swabs."Well, I don't want to get into criticizing back and forth," Hogan said during an appearance on CNN soon after the president's remarks.
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