New York City mayor and failed presidential candidate Bill de Blasio jumped on MSNBC to compare the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic to war and claim that “nationalization” would fix the US’ “Mar-a-Lago attitude” toward the disease.

“Here’s the reality, this is a war-like situation,” De Blasio told MSNBC’s Joy Reid on Saturday morning when criticizing the federal government’s response to the coronavirus. The mayor claims he has been “pleading for weeks” for coronavirus test kits to be more widely available to citizens.

“We’re in a war-time scenario with a Mar-a-Lago attitude being used by the federal government,” he continued.

De Blasio’s answer to the “laid-back” attitude of the government? More government.

“This is a case for a nationalization, literally… for crucial factories and industries that could produce the medical supplies to prepare this country for what we need,” he said.

.@NYCMayor on the Coronavirus: “This is a case for a nationalization of crucial factories and industries' pic.twitter.com/HkTyziuJZg — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 14, 2020

The mayor believes companies that produce items like hand sanitizer should be producing “24/7,” and the government should be distributing the supplies to areas they determine need them the most.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the first death in his state from the coronavirus on Saturday morning. The 82-year-old woman entered a New York City hospital on March 3 and suffered from emphysema.

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De Blasio appeared to blame the death and future potential deaths in New York City on a lack of testing by the federal government.

“We’re going to lose people here... and there are some, I’m certain, who could have been saved if the testing was here from the beginning.”

“We’re going to lose people here... and there are some, I’m certain, who could have been saved if the testing was here from the beginning.” NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio #CoronaVirusUpdatespic.twitter.com/mQ0XkfeLNJ — The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) March 14, 2020

President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus on Friday. In a Saturday press conference, he revealed he has been tested himself and is waiting on the results. Vice President Mike Pence said more information about testing locations in affected states will be available on Sunday after the national task force, which he heads, has time to do a “progress report.”

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