#Rand Paul calls for Gov. Cuomo to be impeached over his handling of COVID-19

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo (left) and Sen. Rand Paul
Hans Pennink; Getty Images

GOP Sen. Rand Paul called for the impeachment of Gov. Andrew Cuomo over the number of deaths among New York nursing home patients during the coronavirus outbreak this spring.

“I think Gov. Cuomo should be impeached for what he did, for the disastrous decision he made to send patients with coronavirus back to nursing homes,” Paul of Kentucky said on Fox News’ “Rundown” podcast on Wednesday.

“And virtually half his people who died were in nursing homes.”

Paul was criticizing the lockdowns and other measures that were taken to stem the spread of the virus when he made the comments about Cuomo.

He said the precautions did not work and shuttering businesses only harmed the economy.

“The people we are lauding are actually making catastrophic decisions,” he said.

“Terrible public health policy decisions were made and I think in the end none of these policies have probably been good for the economy or actually good in containing the virus,” he said.

A report by the state Health Department released earlier this month said Cuomo’s decision on March 25 requiring nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients discharged from hospitals was not responsible for spreading the virus among patients.

It said nursing home staffers and visitors spread COVID-19 inside the nursing homes.

More than 6,400 residents of nursing homes or long-care facilities in the state have died.

Cuomo earlier this week admitted the state made “a lot of mistakes” in its fight against the outbreak.

“It is hard. We made a lot of mistakes, but if we learn from half of the mistakes we made in doing it we are the wiser for it,” the governor told reporters during a visit to Savannah, Ga., where state officials helped the city set up testing sites.