De Blasio on Coronavirus: ‘This Is a Case for a Nationalization of Crucial Factories and Industries’

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling for nationalizing industries in response to the Coronavirus.

De Blasio, who recently declared a state of emergency in New York, on Saturday accused the federal government of being insufficiently aggressive.

“Here’s reality: This is a war like situation,” de Blasio told MSNBC’s Joy Ann Reid. “We’re in a wartime scenario with a Mar-a-Lago attitude being used by the federal government. It’s so laid back, and I don’t understand it and — by the way, testing, how about ventilators, where is the federal government making sure our hospitals have the ventilators we’re going to need? Where is the federal government when it comes to surgical masks?”

“This is a case for a nationalization of crucial factories and industries that could produce the medical supplies to prepare this country for what we need,” de Blasio declared. “Hand sanitizer. People are going crazy trying to get hand sanitizer."

De Blasio said that while New York State is now creating its own hand sanitizer, the federal government should nationalize existing privately owned factories.

“There should be a national approach to ensuring every factory that can make hand sanitizer should be on 24/7 shifts and the distribution could go to the places that need it most” de Blasio said. “We’re not into the discussion because we can’t even get the testing."

"And people left to their own devices to stock up on toilet paper," Reid said.