An Arrogant Chicken
Clearly rattled that his cowardice has become so obvious, Gov. Cuomo just opted to make his arrogance even more blatant — not to mention his utter contempt for New Yorkers’ intelligence. Pressed hard Friday on WCBS Radio on why he refuses to debate Republican opponent Marc Molinaro (and clearly irked by The Post’s front page depicting him in a chicken outfit) Cuomo suddenly seemed to give in.
Well, sort of. Because this is Andrew Cuomo we’re talking about.
The governor agreed to what he calls a debate, though it’s doubtful anyone else would accept his definition.
For one thing, he insisted it had to happen on less than 24 hours’ notice, at 8 o’clock Saturday morning. And it would be held on local radio only — no TV cameras.
Furthermore, Cuomo wouldn’t even show up to face his challenger: He’d only commit to phoning in, because it’s parents day at his daughter’s college.
And get this for arrant chutzpah: Cuomo says it’s Molinaro who’s afraid to debate, because he never faced off against John Di Francisco — who dropped out of the GOP race four months before the primary.
The gov also claimed he’s refused debates because Molinaro “has not put forth any substantive idea” — when he’s actually put out quite a few of them.
A justifiably indignant Molinaro refused to take Cuomo’s cheap bait, calling Cuomo’s non-starter “a staged fraud” and asking: “On what planet does the incumbent governor get to dictate that voters come crawling to him at 8 o’clock on a Saturday morning with no notice?”
Cuomo’s flunkies nonetheless pushed the gov’s line, with tweets like “The Governor agreed to a debate. Molinaro would rather talk about debating instead of actually doing one” and complaining that the Republican had said he’d debate “with a fox, in a box.”
That’s right: The gov will now dismiss all future calls to debate by claiming that Molinaro rejected his utterly ridiculous proposal.
The League of Women Voters has proposed a televised debate late this month in Albany — plenty of advance notice.
Will Cuomo accept? Let’s just say we don’t expect to be putting away his chicken costume anytime soon.