Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal joined New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino at a press conference this evening, denouncing President Obama’s and Governor Cuomo’s efforts at fighting the Ebola virus as weak and ineffective. Although both are Democrats, Obama and Cuomo do not appear particularly close generally and they have not had a shared public presence to date in the fight against Ebola. They are, however, the respective political targets of Jindal and Astorino.
In their opening statements Astorino and Jindal also focused on a shared target – Common Core. Astorino frequently criticizes Common Core and pledges to stop its implementation if elected. Jindal, once a supporter, has significantly structured his putative presidential bid around his opposition.
Press questions were on two broad topics; Ebola and Chris Christie. I asked Astorino and Jindal about Governor Cuomo’s statement today that only the federal government can ban flights from West African countries, not the New York and New Jersey governors as Astorino and others have demanded, and Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye’s statement that no such direct flights arrive at Newark or JFK. Astorino first called for such ban on October 7th. As you can see (in the first question) those statements didn’t seem to alter Astorino or Jindal’s views or demands. I also asked Jindal whether the Louisiana attorney general’s recent effort (supported by Jindal) to block the incinerated remains of possessions of Ebola victim Thomas Duncan from being disposed of in a Louisiana landfill was adding to growing hysteria. Other questions included whether Jindal has spoken with Chris Christie, who heads the Republican Governors Association about his lack of support for Astorino, whether Jindal would, if he were still head of the RGA, use RGA resources to support Astorino, whether Jindal agrees with Senator Rand Paul that the federal government is being untruthful about the danger from Ebola and what Jindal thinks of Cuomo’s performance as governor.
Here is the full Q&A: