John Oliver explored the affinity of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo with his own media hype during the last episode of his HBO show “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday.
The comedian, who had previously criticized Cuomo in the past, devoted the first part of his show to unraveling the recent scandals that have come out this month regarding the governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and allegations of sexual harassment.
Two women have filed charges of sexual harassment against Cuomo, which he denies. Meanwhile, he also faces criticism for allegedly underreporting coronavirus deaths in nursing homes by up to 50% to avoid federal scrutiny.
Oliver noted that, even before the scandals, there was “something disgusting” in the way Cuomo presented himself to the public, while New York was the epicenter of the deadly virus at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
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“Even before the current scandals, there was something disgusting about Cuomo’s joy in his public adulation last year,” said Oliver. “From his constant appearance with his brother on CNN until he signed the term ‘Cuomosexuals’ – the only sexual orientation, by the way, is completely acceptable to discriminate against.”
John Oliver attacked New York Governor Andrew Cuomo during the last episode of ‘Last Week Tonight’.
(Getty Images)
The host also pointed to Cuomo’s book, “American Crisis”, which was released in October and covers his own leadership during what Oliver observed to be the “pandemic still in progress”. The host joked that “presumably” the book said “# 1 Hold press conferences. # 2 End”.
Given that Cuomo allegedly lied about some important facts about the spread of the virus in New York, Oliver noted that some of the press conferences for which he received a lot of praise now “work a little differently after everything we’ve learned”, particularly his insistence on the following facts.
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“OK, the point is, it’s hard to follow the facts if the people responsible for them are actively hiding them from you,” he said. “With regard to the advice, it’s basically as useful as an attacker saying, ‘stop hitting yourself’, because in both cases, yes, I really would like, the thing is that one —– and will not Let -me!”
John Oliver faced Governor Andrew Cuomo during the last episode of ‘Last Week Tonight’.
(HBO)
Oliver continued to criticize the governor for relying heavily on quotes from a man named “AJ Parkinson” in his public speeches and showed a short video montage of the countless times Cuomo invoked his name.
The host revealed that Parkinson is not really a real person. He is a fictional character invented by Cuomo’s father, “cosplayer Kevin Spacey” Mario Cuomo, as a kind of internal joke with the press.
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“While that may have been charming at the time, the current Cuomo doing it during a pandemic, when virtually no one understands it is a joke, is a very strange move,” said Oliver.
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He concluded: “Circulating false quotes is obviously not the worst thing Cuomo has done, this is becoming increasingly clear, but it seems a very appropriate metaphor for a government that has aggressively managed the facts to fit the chosen reality. Remember in another insightful saying, ‘Andrew Cuomo is a colossal to —– e.’ He is an excellent writer named TJ Pumpernickel and I will say exactly two things about TJ Pumpernickel. One, he is a person I just invented and two, he is completely right about Andrew Cuomo. “