Maryland Governor on Pres. Trump’s Response to Protesters

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, Governor, then, let me ask you, because quite a lot of these states where we’re seeing these spikes, quite a lot of them are run by Republican governors. And while we said that quite a few, you know, governors are sort of, if not jumping ship, then at least trying to figure out how best to run their states despite the mixed messaging and the, you know, the — I don’t know, counterfactual messaging coming from the White House. There are other states that are sticking close to the president’s line, and in many of those states, we’re seeing this resurgence. I mean, even now this is happening. How do you explain that? I mean, what goes on in the mind of a governor, an executive, that’s responsible for life and death?

GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R-MD): Well, I can tell you, it’s — as a — I’m the chairman of the National Governors Association. I work almost every day with my fellow governors on both sides of the aisle, both Republican and Democrat, and we’ve been on weekly calls with the president and/or vice president and the coronavirus task force. I have several discussions with my fellow governors. And I can tell you one thing, that the virus doesn’t care whether you’re a Republican or Democrat. It doesn’t recognize state border lines, it doesn’t care about political affiliation. It’s affecting all of us and it’s the most difficult challenge, I think, any of us have ever faced as governors. But there is no question that the lack of clear messaging and the lack of taking it seriously has hurt. And so, when the president was saying early on that it was nothing to worry about, that it was going to disappear when he was really belittling the wearing of masks and things like that, it hurt in our response. I’m very happy that just yesterday, I think the president was seen wearing a mask and saying it was patriotic to wear a mask. This should have happened a while ago, but everybody in this administration has been talking about these safety measures. And sometimes the president steps on the message of some of the hard-working people in the administration who have been trying to get people to do the right thing.