CNN's Cuomo lays into Trump for church threats: He wants to 'distract you with the ugliest things'

On CNN Friday, Chris Cuomo excoriated President Donald Trump for his threat to force states to lift orders restricting church gatherings.

"Forget about whether or not he has the right," said Cuomo. "Is his saying it right there, even right to do? When is the last time you saw him coming out of services, by the way? Why is it so important to him now? I wonder if it has anything to do with the politics of division."

"Basic questions, what would have kept places of worship closed?" continued Cuomo. "If you're Catholic, heard it from the churches themselves. We got to find out safest way to do it. They discouraged us from coming early on and encouraged teleservices. Why? Because that's the safest way to worship. This president seized on an opportunity to wrap himself in cloak of righteousness. It's familiar territory for a man who once told me he gets audited so much maybe because he's such a Christian."

"So rather than staying and answer questions, he left it to Kayleigh 'I shall never tell a lie' McEnany to paint any who question this situation as anti-God," continued Cuomo, playing a clip of the exchange. "See the game they're playing? Don't want to focus on what they need to do, but distract you with ugliest things. Accusing people who ask about safety to be anti-God, want churches closed? Is that where we are now? Here are the facts: Trump can't order churches open ... true faith is in one another to keep ourselves and others safe. He didn't put the rules to keep people safe and he doesn't get to decide when to lift them. Period."

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