The long-time New York Governor and Democrat politician Andrew Cuomo resigned last August amidst credible allegations of sexual misconduct, as well as revelations about a cover-up of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes in the state. The 64-year-old career politician is believed to be trying to stage a comeback since earlier this year, when he spent over $360,000 on television advertisement portraying himself as a victim. This Sunday, Mr. Cuomo dropped a bombshell when he spoke to a medium-sized congregate at a Brooklyn church.
The former Governor spoke for around 25 minutes at God’s Battalion of Prayer, a historically black church at the southwestern end of the Long Island, where an audience of 100-150 people listened to the elder Cuomo brother. Taking a phrase from the contemporary Republican rhetorical terminology, he blamed ‘cancel culture’ for the disgraceful ending of his own career and that of his younger brother, Chris, a senior anchor at CNN who misused his position to support Andrew at the height of the controversy. On the other hand, Mr. Cuomo also repeatedly alluded to ‘My truth’, implying either that he believes in moral relativism, or is simply willing to take cues from both sides of the ideological spectrum to further his own cause.
The three-term governor of one of the most populous and richest states in the country was visibly distressed about the circumstances. “The press roasted me”, he proclaimed, before concluding: “It was probably the toughest time of my life”. The Cuomo family heir also added: “The political sharks in Albany … exploited the situation for their political purpose”, pointing out that none of the investigations into his conduct resulted in a successful lawsuit. The elder Cuomo was clearly confident of the strength of his own legal position, accusing his opponents of ‘prosecutorial misconduct’, and proudly declaring: “We are a nation of laws, not a nation of tweets”.
Most importantly, the 64-year-old Democrat threw out multiple thinly veiled hints at a possible comeback, something neither the Democrat Party nor the people of New York are likely to appreciate, given his incredibly low approval ratings after resignation. At one point, the elder living Cuomo triumphantly exclaimed: “They broke my heart, but they did not break my spirit”. He expressed his belief that “God is not done with me yet”, and that “I have many options in life, and I am open to all of them.”
This sudden and not-so-short speech from a disgraced Boomer politician is fascinating. It shows the desperate efforts of an old man trying to save his family name, while completely devoid of any true sense of regret or shame. Instead of acknowledging the reality that the younger Americans are finally fed up with corrupt, hereditary businessmen-politicians like him, the bulk of his efforts laid at stressing his own innocence, along with threats of a return to public life which will probably never materialise giving the embarrassingly low prospects of its success. The saddest part is, he did not even mention the over 15,000 nursing home deaths directly caused by his administration’s negligence and disregard for human life.
