What a difference a year makes!
Not long ago, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was goofing around on CNN with his doofy brother, writing books about his stellar pandemic leadership, and being considered as a potential 2020 presidential candidate (if Joe Biden was unable to finish his campaign) by self-proclaimed “Cuomo-sexuals.”
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“The Governor’s 111 daily briefings worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines, and stories of success and failure,” explained International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences president and CEO, Bruce Paisner, in a statement announcing the decision to honor Cuomo with the International Emmy Founders Award.
“People around the world tuned in to find out what was going on, and New York tough became a symbol of the determination to fight back.”
How inspiring!
- Except, while the media and liberal elite were fawning all over their newest resistance hero, the Governor’s decisions were decimating nursing homes behind the scenes – he then covered up the influx of deaths.
- While obscuring the severity of the situation, Cuomo was granting legal immunity to hospital and nursing home executives at the same facilities responsible for the deadly conditions!
- Finally, as the truth got out to the public, the Cuomo administration launched a campaign of intimidation and abuse to stop Democratic state officials from speaking out about the scandals.
- As all the nursing home scandal progressed, multiple former staffers came forward to accuse the Governor of sexual harassment, inappropriate touching, and abusing his position to make women feel uncomfortable.
- Many of the behaviors exhibited in the harassment allegations are reminiscent of the intimidation tactics employed in the wake of the nursing home scandal, lending credence to their truthfulness.
At every level of this story, Andrew Cuomo has been exposed as a corrupt, megalomaniac tyrant.
Let’s breakdown everything that’s come out about Andrew Cuomo to date and consider the likelihood of the embroiled Governor weathering this storm and extending his political career beyond 2022.
Before we dig into the dual scandals, here are two related betting markets offered at BetOnline:
Will Andrew Cuomo Resign as Governor in 2021?
- Matchup Odds
- Yes+150
- No-200
Will Andrew Cuomo be Re-Elected as Governor in 2022?
- Matchup Odds
- Yes+145
- No-190
Nursing Home Scandal
As the first wave of the pandemic rocked the country in late March, the Cuomo administration directed hospitals in New York to release more than 9,000 “medically stable” COVID patients back into their nursing homes early.
According to the controversial mandate, nursing homes were required to readmit residents even after they tested positive for the coronavirus. The adult care facilities were then expected to provide the “necessary precautions” to “protect the other residents there,” explained NY Health Commissioner Howard Zucker.
New York state officials were reportedly concerned about the pandemic overloading hospital capacities, which threatened to create a cascade of other crises.
Nursing Home Deaths
The directive to force nursing homes to accept recently infected residents freed up hospital beds but condemned tens of thousands of elderly New Yorkers to death.
New York nursing homes were totally ill-equipped to handle outbreaks. Residents found themselves trapped in underfunded, understaffed facilities where the extremely contagious virus spread like wildfire. Many facilities lacked the necessary protective equipment to prevent transmission.
In January, NY Attorney General Letitia James issued a report confirming that the Department of Health’s public records omitted the deaths of approximately 5,000 nursing-home residents.
Residents of nursing homes that were transferred to hospitals where they passed away were not being included in the “nursing home deaths” category.
Once it became apparent that the Governor’s mandate was responsible for staggering death tolls, Cuomo’s administration used creative accounting to artificially decrease and hide the actual total of nursing home deaths.
Cuomo should face impeachment & calls to resign because 15,000 people died in nursing homes while he helped his donor shield nursing home execs from legal consequences & withheld casualty data.
The whole “wait till the harassment is investigated” ignores this other big scandal.
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) March 3, 2021
Attorney General James’s report found that NY’s nursing-home death toll was as much as 50% higher than initially thought. Today, nursing-home residents and staff account for over one-third of the total number of COVID deaths in the US.
Corporate Immunity and Healthcare Lobbying
While all hell was breaking out in New York’s adult care facilities, Gov. Cuomo was being celebrated for his daily press briefings and his back-and-forth banter with his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.
Andrew Cuomo was a beacon of leadership and the shining example for the rest of the nation’s Governors.
As thousands of nursing home residents suffered through abysmal conditions and extensive isolation, the Democrats’ latest obsession received a book deal to write “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
Despite the unfathomable hubris required to write such a book while fully aware of the situation unfolding behind the scenes, the Cuomo administration still hadn’t reached maximum scumminess.
In addition to fudging death totals and hiding the horrors occurring in adult care facilities, the Governor was leading an effort to shield hospital and nursing home executives from any legal consequences that might arise from their gross mismanagement of the pandemic.
It just so happens that Cuomo received more than $2 million in political contributions from the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) and affiliated lobbying firms in the middle of the pandemic.
Not long after accepting the generous donations, the Governor thought it best to include a provision in his state budget shielding healthcare industry officials from legal consequences for the mountains of people their corporate decisions killed.
Intimidation Campaign / Cover-Up
Much like Nixon’s Watergate, the Cuomo team attempts to intimidate detractors and conceal any wrongdoing that may prove most damaging.
Things began to unravel for Gov. Cuomo after the New York Post published leaked details of a Zoom meeting between Democratic lawmakers and Melissa DeRosa, one of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aides.
The transcript of the call features DeRosa explaining to local Dems why the Governor tried to cover up nursing home deaths. She insisted that the administration’s chief concern was that President Donald Trump and his DOJ would weaponize the high death totals against Cuomo – a vocal critic of Trump’s pandemic response.
Included in the Post article was a quote from Democratic State Assemblymember Ron Kim, confirming to the reporter that DeRosa’s comments were as damning as they looked, saying: “They were trying to dodge having any incriminating evidence.”
Cuomo’s team tried to convince Kim to retract the comment. When he wouldn’t, the Governor called the assemblyman and screamed things like: “I will destroy you!” and “You haven’t seen my wrath!”
Since then, Kim’s accounts of what occurred in New York’s nursing homes, as well as his heated interactions with Andrew Cuomo, have added crucial context to the case being made against the Governor.
Even before the pandemic, Gov. Cuomo and his aides had a fearsome reputation. They’ve dominated New York politics through intimidation tactics and aggression. Nevertheless, State Assemblyman Kim continued talking to reporters about his interactions with the Governor, despite the repeated threats and attempts to derail his political career.
Kim’s courage inspired other state officials to come forward with their own accounts of being bullied by Team Cuomo. For example, three legislators confessed they’d been threatened for considering voting in favor of stripping the Governor of his emergency powers.
More people took to Twitter to recount unpleasant run-ins they had with the Cuomo administration while working in New York politics. Taken altogether, the many similar stories highlight patterns of abusive behavior and paint a picture of a tyrannical “strong man,” drunk on power.
Can Gov. Cuomo Withstand this Barrage?
In addition to the scandals connected to nursing home deaths, multiple women who formerly worked on Gov. Cuomo’s staff have gone public with allegations of sexual harassment, unwanted physical contact, and a bevy of other inappropriate behaviors.
Their stories are similar to Assemblyman Ron Kim’s, only more sexual in nature. The prevailing theme is an out-of-control megalomaniac using his position and status to assert his will on the people around him.
He certainly seems to think so.
Despite calls from Democratic lawmakers for the Governor to resign, Meatball isn’t willing to throw in the towel quite yet.
Cuomo Won’t Resign, Denies “Inappropriate Contact” Claims
On Wednesday, Cuomo held a press conference where he apologized for “[acting] in a way that made people feel comfortable. But while he acknowledged having acted in ways that were “not acceptable,” the Democrat denies being sexually inappropriate.
Instead, he’s doubling down on the assertion that his behavior was merely meant to be “playful.” His accusers rejected the apology in a statement, expressing disgust over Cuomo’s disingenuous mischaracterizations of what happened.
Regardless, for the sake of political betting, what matters most is that the Governor doesn’t plan to resign.
He’s willing to apologize for making underlings uncomfortable but stops well short of taking responsibility for sexual harassment or anything more severe than playful flirting. That means Cuomo thinks he can survive the accusations and the federal investigation.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo: “I am not going to resign. I work for the people of the State of New York. They elected me and I’m going to serve the people of the State of New York.” https://t.co/q1Pk3Tey0A pic.twitter.com/ALFsvfbFgr
— The Hill (@thehill) March 3, 2021
Teflon Don
The accounts of workplace harassment and abusive behaviors towards other political operatives are undoubtedly unflattering. Still, there’s nothing severe enough in the allegations to necessitate a swift exit from the public stage. He mostly comes across as a creepy jerk who gets off on leveraging his power and influence but never crosses the line to full-blown assault.
He’s also beloved amongst resistance Democrats. Time and time again, we’ve seen politicians affiliated with the neoliberal establishment survive damning accusations and scandals. Once you’re a “made man” in the Clinton and Obama circles, you’re nearly untouchable.
Just look at Joe Biden. He’s a part of the club, so Democrats were willing to discard the entire Me Too movement at the drop of a hat to protect their candidate from Tara Reade’s credible sexual assault allegations. Not to mention everything Bill Clinton has gotten away with!
Governor Cuomo played his role during the pandemic and gave Democrats a hero to convey leadership and oppose Donald Trump.
They’re not going to let anything happen to him. Don’t be surprised if the Biden administration interferes with the federal inquiry into the nursing home situation – the only charge that’s a legitimate threat to Cuomo’s political career.
Will Governor Cuomo Win Reelection in 2022?
Maybe I’m just cynical, but for the same reasons I don’t anticipate Gov. Cuomo resigning from office, I suspect he’ll win his reelection bid next year.
Nothing bad ever happens to donor-friendly corporatist politicians. They’re all owned by powerful special interests who will intervene to protect their investment if need be.
Cuomo will wait out this current barrage of challenges, and within a month or two, the public will have forgotten all about the nursing homes, coverups, and threatening phone calls. Everyone will be distracted and outraged over Marjorie Taylor Greene bringing a flamethrower to the Capitol or AOC starting an OnlyFans. It’ll be like the last few weeks never happened.
Voters don’t mind their politicians being aggressive jerks—they kind of like it. Andrew Cuomo might take a hit in the polls for now, but everything will level out when the NY Governor’s scandals aren’t dominating the news cycles anymore.
At election time, the DNC will throw the full weight of the Democratic political machine behind their favorite Meatball, and Andrew Cuomo will waltz into another term as Governor.
