Gold Star families and Republican lawmakers are enraged after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that healthcare workers who lost their lives would be honored on Memorial Day weekend.
“This Memorial Day weekend, flags will be flown at half-staff and NY landmarks will be illuminated in red, white & blue to honor essential workers who lost their lives to COVID-19,” Cuomo wrote on Twitter. “We owe these brave individuals a profound thank you and hold them & their families in our thoughts.”
Critics say essential workers deserve to be honored, but not on Memorial Day.
“We have Memorial Day to honor our fallen and we have Veteran’s Day to honor our veterans. Our essential workers do deserve that, but our fallen heroes deserve this weekend and Memorial Day to be about them,” Gold Star wife Michelle Garcia told NEWS12.
We remember those who gave their lives on Memorial Day. Gave their lives for this country. Gave their lives for freedom because freedom isn’t free, Cuomo said.
“I also think we should remember this past year, remember on Memorial Day, remember the 42,000 New Yorkers who died. 42,000. Remember the 1,000 essential workers who died giving their life,” the governor added.
Governor Should Apologize
New York Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt said the governor said the governor’s action was offensive and diminished a holiday set aside to honor soldiers who died in service to the country.
“I know apologies and contrition don’t come easy to him, but this is one area where it should. That is the right thing to clarify that this was a gross misstep,” Ortt told Fox News Channel. “Again, we should recognize the sacrifice that our essential workers and frontline workers paid during this pandemic, some with their lives, but there are plenty of other days we can do that without diminishing, taking away or conflating what this weekend and this holiday really means.”
Continue reading story at: toddstarnes.com
