For decades, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo maintained a tight grip on his public image, supported by the unshakeable loyalty of longtime allies and the trepidation of his greatest political opponents.
Wanting to show that he was in control of the coronavirus pandemic, he gave daily press conferences that made him nationally famous, in contrast to a debated federal response. He wanted to show that he was in control of the largest city in the state and spent years disparaging the mayor of New York to prove it. He even wrote a book publicizing his “lessons in leadership from the Covid-19 pandemic” while the number of cases was still rising.
And on Wednesday, facing his worst political crisis, he tried to give the impression that he was in control of very serious accusations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, although it was not at all clear whether he really was.
He publicly apologized to the women who said he sexually harassed them while informing people who were asking for his expulsion that he was not planning to go anywhere.
“I will not resign,” he said at a news conference, his first public appearance since the charges were released. The state, he said, needs him in charge.
“We have a full plate. We have Covid. We have recovery. We have reconstruction. We have an oscillating New York city. We have a terrible financial picture. We have to make vaccines. do, “he said.
Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran New York political strategist, said Cuomo’s statements on Wednesday were designed to let his rivals know that he is still “in control”.
“The message was for de Blasio and his enemies in general – I’m not taking it easy and time is on my side,” said Sheinkopf, referring to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Cuomo, who is in his third term, has faced problems before, but nothing like the storm of controversy that has hit him in recent weeks, which has led to resignations from more than a dozen Democratic state legislators, strong rebukes even his allies. and news that state legislative leaders would be withdrawing their emergency powers against the coronavirus.
Rebecca Katz, a progressive strategist who worked for de Blasio, said: “Andrew Cuomo has never been under that kind of scrutiny. This is the first time that his scandals are taking the news”, of which he probably should be well aware.
“Nobody follows Andrew Cuomo’s press coverage more closely than Andrew Cuomo,” said Katz.
Jonathan Greenberg, a researcher at Siena College, said: “It is not an understatement to say that he faces his most difficult test as governor.”
His problems began in late January, when Attorney General Letitia James’s office published a report that concluded that the state Department of Health had underreported the number of Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes by up to 50 percent. A senior aide told Democratic lawmakers that it took the Cuomo government months to release data on the death toll among asylum residents, partly because of concerns that the information “would be used against us” by the Trump administration.
Cuomo was then accused in mid-February of threatening to “destroy” a Democratic lawmaker who had alleged that the government “covered up” the numbers. Cuomo denied having threatened outspoken Assembly member Ron Kim, who was also calling for the emergency powers of the Cuomo pandemic to be revoked. Cuomo denied that there was a cover-up, but said the state should have acted more quickly to release the information.
Last week, Cuomo was also the target of accusations of sexual harassment by three women – two who worked for his government and one who said he had harassed her at a wedding.
The first woman, Lindsey Boylan, wrote in an essay on Medium that Cuomo had repeatedly made inappropriate comments, including one suggesting that they play strip poker, and that he once gave her an unwanted kiss on the mouth. Cuomo’s press secretary, Caitlin Girouard, called the allegations “simply false.”
Another former aide, Charlotte Bennett, told The New York Times in an interview published on Saturday that Cuomo had made several inappropriate comments about her sex life, which she said she interpreted as an overture. Bennett, 25, told NBC News that the Times’ report was accurate and declined to comment further.
Cuomo on Saturday denied making any advances to Bennett, but acknowledged on Wednesday: “I acted in a way that made people uncomfortable. It was not intentional. And I really and deeply apologize for that.
“I feel bad about that,” he added. “And frankly, I’m ashamed of it. And that’s not easy to say. But that’s the truth. But that’s what I want you to know, and I want you to know about me directly: I never touched anyone inappropriately.”
Another woman, Anna Ruch, 33, told The Times in an article published on Monday that she felt “uncomfortable and ashamed” when Cuomo, whom she had just met, put her hands on her face and asked to kiss her in a wedding in 2019. The story included a photograph that seems to show the moment.
Cuomo said Wednesday: “I didn’t know I was bothering you at the time. I feel bad about that.
“My custom is to kiss, hug and make that gesture. I understand that sensitivities have changed and behavior has changed. And I understand and I will learn from that,” he said.
The fact that he is very friendly, however, is not Cuomo’s typical complaint.
“You reap what you sow. This is someone who governs through fear and intimidation – it works until it doesn’t,” said political consultant Bradley Tusk. “When you stumble, the knives come out.”
The bad press affected Cuomo’s approval ratings, which reached record levels during the first months of the pandemic, when viewers flocked to watch his calm and moderate lectures on the coronavirus. A Nexstar New York / Emerson College survey released on Tuesday indicated that only 38% of New Yorkers approve of the work he is doing, while 48% disapprove.
Tusk said it is not clear at this point whether Cuomo will still try to accomplish what his late father, Governor Mario Cuomo, has failed – to be elected for a fourth term.
“A week and a half ago, some would have been afraid to run against him,” said Tusk.
Sheinkopf said the prosecutor’s investigation may work for Cuomo in the short term, because it gives him time. The investigation is expected to take months, allowing Cuomo to focus on launching the coronavirus vaccine and on upcoming budget negotiations to rebuild his managerial image.
“Its power is in the budget,” said Sheinkopf. “If there is one guy who can stay out and win, it’s Andrew Cuomo. But the problem is that we don’t know what else is coming.”