President Donald Trump’s Deputy Assistant & Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley slammed New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for ‘ridiculously’ blaming the federal government for the thousands of COVID-19 nursing home deaths in his state, in a statement Tuesday.

Gidley is expected to soon leave his role at the White House to take the role of the National Press Secretary for Trump’s reelection campaign, according to reports.

My statement regarding Governor Cuomo’s ridiculous comments attempting to shift blame and erase his direct responsibility for so many precious lives lost in New York: pic.twitter.com/UGgqeNeRlp

— Hogan Gidley 45 Archived (@hogangidley45) June 23, 2020

“Governor Cuomo alone is to blame for refusing to shut down New York and forcing seniors who tested positive for Coronavirus back into his state’s nursing homes,” Gidley said in his statement posted to Twitter.

He added, “His reckless response did not follow CMS and CDC guidelines devastating the senior population-and no amount of revisionist history can erase Governor Cuomo’s grossly incompetent decisions or the fact that President Trump’s bold, aggressive actions saved millions of lives.”

"Republicans…are playing politics."@NYGovCuomo doesn't take responsibility for New York's nursing home deaths.

He blames the federal response and calls the Congressional investigation a "political charade." pic.twitter.com/glKFU3lodz

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 22, 2020

Governor Cuomo defied early directives from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to protect the elderly by forcing nursing homes to admit recovering COVID-19 patients. Later, the order was mysteriously deleted from the New York State Department of Health’s website, according to The Daily Caller’s Peter Hasson.

Cuomo, however, says he’s not to blame for the deaths and continues to instead blame the Federal government.