The Cuomo Controversies

The+Cuomo+Controversies

Fernando Sanchez, Reporter

Governor Andrew Cuomo was praised for his handling of COVID-19, his strong leadership, and swift actions. Gov.Cuomo enjoyed approval ratings as high as 63% and was constantly covered by the media. Many people believed that he was such a great governor that he should run for president in 2024. Andrew Cuomo loved the spotlight and attention but underneath all of the book deals and press coverage lied a more horrific reality. Gov.Cuomo had been covering up the amount of people that died in nursing homes, leaving hundreds of families in the dark about their loved one’s. Gov.Cuomo has also been accused of sexual misconduct by 6 women. Cuomo now faces possible impeachment by the New York state legislature and calls from many statewide officials for his resignation. These controversies could be the beginning of the end of Andrew Cuomo.
Andrew Mark Cuomo was elected as governor of New York in 2010 and was seen as a typical governor and was widely overlooked. However when the coronavirus hit the US, New York was one of the hardest hit states by the Pandemic. New York was facing up to 900 deaths per day. Instead of being honest about the amount of people dying from the virus he decided to cover up the deaths and hoped no one would care or notice. He believed that since he was the governor no one would question his actions or decisions. The state health department had only reported 8,500 deaths in nursing homes. However the health department failed to report the actual amount of deaths which was closer to 15,000 deaths. This cover up was mostly due to the fact that the health department did not include the people who had died outside of the facility a few days after leaving. A Cuomo aide told the New York Post that they were worried that the real numbers would be “held against them”. Cuomo has called the cover up a “mistake” and said that the administration wasn’t withholding the information rather there was just a “delay” in reporting.
In October 2020, New York was facing another surge of COVID cases, despite that Cuomo released a memoir titled American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. In the book Cuomo bragged about his “strong leadership” and his “ability” to take action. The memoir was supposed to highlight what “leadership” looks like and was supposed to set an example for other politicians to know what to do in a health crisis. In the memoir Cuomo also compares his actions to that of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The mainstream media raved about him, some even went as far as calling themselves “Cuomosexuals”. The term is known as the deep appreciation for the Cuomo brothers, talk show hosts like Ellen DeGeneres and Trevor Noah described themselves as “cuomosexuals”. However when allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo arose the mainstream media was silent. The almost weekly appearances of Andrew Cuomo with his brother on CNN stopped. Other sources like CNN almost appeared to be ignoring the allegations to not shed a bad light on their beloved governor. However the media finally started reporting on the sexual misconduct allegations after 6 different women had accused him of inappropriate behavior.
On February 24 Lindsey Boylan wrote about her experience with Cuomo and referred to a time when Cuomo and her were on a plane and he said “lets play strip poker”. In her story she described that at work the sexual innuendos and “jokes” were almost expected. She also stated that if he made inappropriate jokes with you it meant that he liked you and that you were doing something right. After Boylan accused Cuomo another victim came out to share her experience. Charlotte Bennett was a former aide to the governor and recalled similar sexual harassment experiences like Boylan’s. She pointed out instances were Cuomo would ask her appropriate questions about her sex life. Bennett claims that Cuomo asked her if she had ever had relationships with older men, she also said that Cuomo told her that he didn’t have any problems with dating younger women. Bennett mentions a time where Cuomo told her that he was “lonely” and “wanted a girlfriend”. Bennett stated that she felt forced to answer these questions because of the position of power that Cuomo holds. After these brave women shared their stories four other women have come out against Cuomo stating he made sexually inappropriate jokes with them. Cuomo has said that some of his “jokes” may have been perceived as “unwanted flirtation”. Cuomo has admitted that he might not have had the most appropriate conversations with some of the women but denies almost all of the allegations that he sexually harrassed any of them
Many people believe that this is the end of Andrew Cuomo’s Governorship. Cuomo now faces a possible impeachment from the state legislature. Many lawmakers including well known Democrats like Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand,Sen.Chuck Schumer & NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio called for him to resign. However Cuomo has refused to step down as governor amid the allegations. Andrew Cuomo’s approval rating has dropped to an all time low of 38 percent. What lies in Cuomo’s future is unclear, Will he be impeached?, Will he step down?, Is this the end of Andrew Cuomo?