Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s testimony before the House of Representatives about the deaths of thousands of New Yorkers in nursing homes during the pandemic proved one thing: his arrogance knows no bounds.
During grilling by the Select Subcommittee on COVID-19 on Tuesday, Governor Cuomo emphasized that he is avoiding responsibility for deaths caused by his March 25, 2020 “mandatory admissions” directive, which forced New York nursing homes to admit infectious COVID patients.
Instead, he claimed then-President Donald Trump “intentionally misled the American people and his lies and denials delayed our response” and “spread the virus.”
Willful deception? “Lies and denial”? There’s a lot of projection there, Andrew.
He also blamed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“They never called me (after the order was issued). If they had a problem with the instructions, they would have called me. If it was that bad…”
As if it was the CDC’s job to micromanage a notorious micromanager.
As governor, the responsibility lies with Cuomo, but now he pretends he was merely an unfortunate bystander to his administration’s decisions.
In Cuomo’s eyes, he is the victim.
But his actions during the pandemic speak louder than his words.
Governor Cuomo knew exactly how serious the situation was by June 7, 2020. He ordered aides to send an email calling the nursing home deaths a “huge fiasco” and warning, “Do you not understand how bad this is? Or are you going to admit you were wrong and give up?”
He clearly chooses never to admit error, even when the evidence is irrefutable.
He shamelessly attempted to cover up the impact of his failure, reportedly personally editing a July 6, 2020 New York State report to significantly undercount New York State’s COVID-19 death toll.
Now, witness testimony and the final House report say Governor Cuomo’s orders have led to an increase in COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by about 9,000.
To make matters worse, Cuomo lacks the decency (or courage) to apologize to the families of elderly New Yorkers who have died, despite repeated urgings from committee members of both parties.
On the way out of the chamber, a family member bluntly said, “You killed my parents and thousands of others. You’re a liar. You’re in denial of reality, you son of a bitch.”
Cuomo still appears keen to return to politics.
If he continues to lie, it will be a very hard fight. The people of New York, especially those who have lost loved ones, will never forget what he did, and they will never forgive a man who refuses to acknowledge the truth.
