Amid talks about New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s possible 2020 presidential run, the governor flatly denied any intentions of running against President Donald Trump.

In his statement, the governor clarified, “I am not going to rise to the debate of a political challenge,” Cuomo said. “I am not running for president. I was never running for president. I said from day one I wasn’t running for president.”

Talks about Cuomo’s possible presidential run began after he had received a glowing response over his efforts to fight the coronavirus. In fact, some had even suggested that the Democratic party should dump their Democratic front-runners, former vice-president Joe Biden, and Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, in favor of Cuomo.

Cuomo’s popularity rose to an all-time high. In a poll conducted by Siena College, 71% of New Yorkers approved his efforts, specifically with how he dealt with the ongoing national crisis. The governor’s approval rating rose by a whopping 27% and is considered his highest rating since 2013. An NBC affiliate remarked that this had especially played well for Cuomo since 50% of all coronavirus cases were recorded in New York.

While Cuomo denied such reports, President Donald Trump welcomed the idea. Despite being on two ends of the political spectrum, Cuomo had constantly praised Trump for working around the clock to provide immediate relief for coronavirus hotspots.

In another interview for CNN, the governor was asked by his brother Chris Cumo about his intentions to run for office, to which he flatly denied and gave a huge “No.” The host went on to ask if he ever thought about it or might possibly run in the future, but Cuomo simply remarked that he never thought about it.

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On the other hand, Trump believed that the governor would have been a better opponent in the upcoming 2020 elections, than the Democratic front runner, “Sleepy Joe” Biden. In a statement for “Fox & Friends,” Trump said that he would not mind running against Cuomo.

However, the president reminded that although Cuomo had recently received positive remarks, Trump also got a lot of praise on how he had handled the ongoing national crisis. Finally, Trump believed that a US president should be capable of running the country and admitted that Joe Biden might not be the one for the job.” I personally don’t think Joe Biden is capable,” the president remarked.