On Friday March 20, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said President Trump was lying when he said the U.S. Navy hospital ships would arrive in Los Angeles and New York City in the near future. Exactly a week later, the USNS Mercy arrived in the Port of Los Angeles.
“There is no sign that the Navy hospital ships that the President made such a big deal of — the ‘Comfort’ and the ‘Mercy’ — there’s no sign that they’ll be anywhere on site helping anywhere in the country for weeks yet,” Maddow said.
She highlighted Trump’s announcement that the “Comfort” and the “Mercy” would arrive in the upcoming weeks and dismissing the news as “nonsense.”
“The president said when he announced those ships would be put into action against the COVID-19 epidemic. He said one of those ships would be operational in New York harbor next week. That’s nonsense. It will not be there next week,” Maddow said.
FLASHBACK: MSNBC's Rachel Maddow: "nonsense" hospital ship will be in NYC soonhttps://t.co/fkfH6uf12m pic.twitter.com/7lSMTLPVs2
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 30, 2020
The Mercy arrived in L.A. on Friday, March 27, just one week after Maddow said the ship will take weeks to arrive. The USNS Comfort arrived in New York City’s harbor on Monday, March 30.
A local Los Angeles NBC affiliate said the floating 1,000-bed hospital will provide some “much-needed relief” in the battle against the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted about the Comfort’s arrival and said he is holding a briefing upon its arrival.
The USNS Comfort seen sailing to New York Harbor from a NYS escort vessel.
The Comfort brings 1,000 much-needed hospital beds & 1,200 personnel to New York. I'll be in NYC to receive a briefing upon its arrival. pic.twitter.com/VpHpjymsow
— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 30, 2020