Trump calls Jay Inslee a ‘snake’ as Washington’s coronavirus death toll rises
President Donald Trump called Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington which has had the highest coronavirus death toll in the country, a “snake” on Friday while visiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The president’s comments came a day after Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading a White House task force to combat COVID-19, visited Washington and met with Inslee and his team and thanked them for their efforts. The state has had 14 fatalities, the greatest number linked to the virus in the United States.
Trump said he had told Pence not to express appreciation for the governor’s efforts.
“I told Mike not to be complimentary of the governor, ‘cause that governor is a snake, okay? Inslee. I said, if you’re nice to him, he will take advantage. And I would’ve said no,” Trump said.
Inslee, who has been critical of the federal government’s response and has called for additional federal dollars to combat the virus, responded in a tweet.
“My single focus is and will continue to be the health and well-being of Washingtonians. It’s important for leaders to speak with one voice. I just wish the president and vice president could get on the same page.” Inslee wrote. “We appreciate the vice president’s visit and our teams are working well together.”
Inslee was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president last year, hoping to unseat Trump from office.
“Let me just tell you, we have a lot of problems with the governor, and the governor of Washington, that’s where you have many of your problems, okay? So, Mike may be happy with him, but I’m not,” Trump said.
“If we came up with a cure today, and tomorrow everything is gone, and you went up to this governor, who’s not a good governor by the way, if you went up to this governor and you said to him, ‘how did Trump do?,’ he’d say you did a terrible job,” Trump said. “It makes no difference.”
At a press briefing shortly after Trump had left the CDC where he thanked staff for coordinating the federal government’s response to the growing health crisis, Pence was asked to respond to the president’s criticism of Inslee. The vice president declined to do so, instead praising the president for the team he had assembled to tackle the virus on the federal level.
Just a day earlier in Tacoma, Pence had said, “I do want to commend, Governor Inslee, your team’s effort and the seamless partnership that was forged from the very beginning between our administration and your administration here at the state level.”
Updates with Inslee’s response in a tweet.
James Drew of The News Tribune contributed reporting.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 3:38 PM.
