Cuomo and de Blasio: A Tale of Two Leaders

At about 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Bill de Blasio had just finished a live interview on MSNBC when he heard from someone who, just hours earlier, the New York mayor had viciously attacked for deserting his city in its hour of desperation.

President Donald Trump was on the phone.

It was the first time the two leaders had spoken in months. After badgering the president on television for weeks, de Blasio was finally able to appeal to him directly for the ventilators, hospital beds, face masks, gowns, and other supplies New York City needs imminently as it becomes the frightening epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.

“The president of the United States is from New York City, and he will not lift a finger to help his hometown, and I don’t get it,” de Blasio had said that morning on Meet the Press. “I can’t be blunt enough. If the president doesn’t act, people will die who could have lived otherwise.”

Later that night, after a phone call with Trump and Vice