BREAKING NEWS – Washington, D.C. – A new study has graded states by how well they handled the coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent restrictions and lockdowns, showing a stark contrast between liberal and conservative states.

The Committee To Unleash Prosperity study compared state performance on metrics including the economy, education, and mortality from the virus, and examined how states and their respective governments handled the pandemic response.

“Shutting down their economies and schools was by far the biggest mistake governors and state officials made during COVID, particularly in blue states,” Steve Moore, co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, told Fox News Digital.

New York, California, New Jersey and Illinois were among the worst in dealing with the coronavirus, performing “poorly on every measure,” the report said.

Former Governor Cuomo of New York responded to the assessment. β€œIn regards to the Committee to Unleash Prosperity,” he began. β€œI think I can speak for the other three governors when I say the study unfairly focuses too much on the negligent deaths we caused due to our reckless policies, rather than how popular we became during the pandemic before people found out how badly we were screwing up.”