Left hailed Andrew Cuomo as anti-Trump, left holding the bag
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
The ancient proverb does well to sum up the mainstream media’s role in the rise and fall of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Last year, as the coronavirus took hold of the country, Cuomo grabbed headlines for his supposed “take-charge” role in beating back COVID-19 in his state, as well as taking shots at President Trump.
In a July press conference, he weighed in on how Trump was handling the situation. “The country is suffering because of you,” he said. “Admit you were wrong.”
The mainstream media loved it — and him.
Cuomo was set up as the example of “how things should be done,” and liberals soon pumped up speculation that the governor could — and should — run for president in 2024.
It didn’t hurt that he had a member of the media elite in the family — CNN’s Chris Cuomo, who interviewed his brother frequently for the network. They discussed politics and the virus, but also talked about their family — a lot. “There’s always time to call mom,” Chris Cuomo chided his brother. A political strategist couldn’t have asked for a better PSA for the governor.
Chris Cuomo even asked his brother about the presidential possibilities.
Chris Cuomo: “Let me ask you something. With all of this adulation that you’re getting for doing your job, are you thinking about running for president? Tell the audience.”
Andrew Cuomo: “No. No.” CNN’s Chris Cillizza thought that was the wrong answer, writing: “… he is getting extremely high marks not just in New York but nationally for his take-the-bull-by-the-horns approach to the crisis and b) the fight against coronavirus will be the defining moment in not only his governorship but his political career to date.”
Cuomo was the anti-Trump, and rode that wave for all it was worth, with liberal pundits doing their best to keep his
board afloat.
But as Frank Sinatra sang, “You’re riding high in April, shot down in May.”
Cuomo began his descent after his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic was shown to be disastrous. He required nursing homes to accept patients with COVID-19 when hospitals were overflowing, and then worked to hide data about the deaths of nursing home residents.
That was followed by accusations of sexual harassment by former aides. Cuomo has apologized for the “pain I’ve caused” but refuses to resign.
This would be a good topic to discuss with brother Chris, but that’s a non-starter.
The anchor recently told viewers that while he knew what was happening, “obviously, I cannot cover it because he is my brother.”
Good news = fine, bad news = conflict of interest.
Meanwhile, many on the left are quietly tiptoeing out of the room. On Monday, President Joe Biden, a longtime ally, declined to stand behind Cuomo.
Daily Beast editor-at-large Molly Jong-Fast wrote an homage to Cuomo back in March 2020. That’s gone by the wayside, evidenced by her latest piece for the Beast: “‘My Cuomo ‘Crush’ Turned Out to Be Stockholm Syndrome.”
Cuomo served as a convenient cudgel for the left and its media allies to wield against Trump, a president they derided well before he assumed office.
The rise and fall of Cuomo offers a stark lesson in the perils of a biased media injecting itself into the political narrative.