Cuomo in hot soup:  What takes you up can bring you down too

The winning of the Emmy award by the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo portrayed the message that he was probably the best governor in the United States in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest reveals now show a dismal state of affairs, as the Cuomo administration is accused of underplaying the COVID deaths by almost 50 percent. Reports suggest that Cuomo hid hundreds of nursing home residents’ deaths from the records for the sake of saving themselves from so-called Trump administration prosecution.

The same coronavirus which built the reputation of Andrew Cuomo as the man of the crisis has now shattered his image in the United States. 

Amid all of this controversial approach by Andrew Cuomo, the state Republicans, although thin in numbers are raising their voices to impeach the incumbent Democrat governor of New York. 

Not only this, the possibility of reverting back the Emmy award by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is also raised, as the governor remained untruthful during his COVID briefings.

How did the coronavirus build and destroy Andrew Cuomo? Let’s have a look.

 

Coronavirus: The Maker and Breaker of Andrew Cuomo

As the United States became the worst-impacted country due to the pandemic, the Trump administration’s response was below par in tackling the virus.

However, the response of the Democratic governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, was highly applauded across America for being extra vigilant amid the COVID crisis. 

He used to brief Americans daily as he set the benchmark of excellence in dealing with the virus. His briefings were seen by millions of viewers each day as they were telecasted on all the major news channels of the country.

Even Joe Biden recognized and appreciated Andrew Cuomo for leading New York during times of the crisis. Joe Biden called Andrew Cuomo a “lesson in leadership.” 

As Cuomo was extra vocal about the lack of equipment in the hospitals in New York, Trump personally commented on his requests, seeing that he had already won the trust of the masses, and going against him could be a suicidal move.

Due to his untiring efforts in dealing with the coronavirus, Cuomo was given the Emmy award. 

Now the same coronavirus crisis has put Cuomo into hot soup, which manifests that the downfall of Cuomo lies with something which lifted him to excellence.

The recent controversy that pushed the Democratic Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, into chaos is all-about playing with the number of deaths in New York.

To everyone’s surprise, his strategy is now being unfolded as a plethora of lies. The New York Attorney General released a report recently in which the shocking revelations were made. According to the report,

 

“Preliminary data obtained by (Attorney General) suggests that many nursing home residents died from Covid-19 in hospitals after being transferred from their nursing homes, which is not reflected in (Health’s department) published total nursing home death data.”

(NY Attorney General Report)

 

The hiding of the death toll by the state’s administration came in a bid to save themselves from the potential prosecution by the federal prosecutors in Trump’s era.

As the report came into the limelight, Andrew Cuomo’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, apologized to the Democratic lawmakers, saying that “we froze” out so that the federal prosecutors could not use the actual data against us.

The New York administration was afraid of the Trump administration back in August 2020, so they decided to play foul. 

The Trump administration was critical of Andrew Cuomo during the last months of Trump’s presidency, so some severe actions from Trump’s administration were very much expected against the state governor.

While explaining the behavior of Donald Trump, DeRosa said

 

He (Trump) starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes… He starts going after (Phil) Murphy (New Jersey Governor), starts going after (Gavin) Newsom (California Governor), starts going after Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan Governor) … (He) directs the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us.

(Melissa DeRosa)

At least nine health officials have resigned since August 2020 in New York, including the Deputy Commissioner of Public Health in the state of New York.

So, if the situation worsens in the state now, the responsibility of more deaths will lie on the shoulders of Cuomo.

 

Lying about coronavirus: Cuomo’s political career at stake 

As the age factor might come into play in Biden’s second presidential term and he might end up retiring after serving one term in the White House, Andrew Cuomo was seen as one of the top contenders for the highest office of the United States in 2024.

With his eyes on the presidency, he was a hot favorite candidate, considering his stalwart response against COVID.  

But the situation has turned completely against him now. Due to his fraudulent behavior, he is expected not to garner enough support from Democratic circles to win the nomination of the Democrats.

If he decides to run for the presidency, his chances of winning the Democratic primary are bleak now. He may end up being the victim of his lies that he fed to the masses to save his reputation in the coronavirus crisis.

The pandemic that put him in the position of being the top contender for the Oval Office is now a roadblock for him for his future political aspirations.

The same pandemic can even cost him his office of governor now. It is pertinent to note that the voices about Andrew Cuomo’s impeachment have increased in the Republican legislatures of New York.

In the state’s current political setup, the Republicans occupy almost one-third of seats in the state legislature. 

At least four Democrats from New York have blasted the governor for being a liar in matters of public interests. These Democrats include Alessandra Biaggi, Andrew Gounardes, Yuh-Line Niou, and Brad Lander.

While talking to the audience on Twitter, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes said,

 

“This is the betrayal of the public trust.”

(Andrew Gounardes)

 

If Democrats, especially Joe Biden, live by their words and they successfully impeach and convict him, he could lose his ability to run for the offices in the future.

 

The arrogant attitude of Andrew Cuomo

The tussle between Andrew Cuomo and the health experts became even more evident as Cuomo adopted a sarcastic tone in explaining the role of the career health experts in New York. 

He said,

“When I say ‘experts’ in air quotes, it sounds like I’m saying I don’t really trust the experts…Because I don’t. Because I don’t.”

(Andrew Cuomo)

The way forward

Democrats have often accused Republicans of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic poorly. In fact, Trump’s COVID strategy was the main point of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.

Bringing the Democratic governor to justice should be the priority of Democrats now if they want to portray the message of justice in the United States.

The story of Andrew Cuomo gives a fair lesson that anything that brings people up can also take them down.

This is not the first time that Joe Biden is facing a conflict of interest in recent times. The man who faced the controversy of his son Hunter Biden and his brother Frank Biden is now faced with the challenge of another Democrat breaking the rules.

If it remained unattended, the violations of Democrats would continue to rise with Biden not taking any action, which would make Joe Biden another Donald Trump.