'Look at these 180s': Drew Holden remembers when the media said Andrew Cuomo was 'conducting a symphony'

First, you knew it would be good — here’s tomorrow’s print edition of the New York Post:

Brutal. pic.twitter.com/NZ7Qu3Enj9

— Kambree (@KamVTV) August 11, 2021

Drew Holden has done threads before on the media’s adoration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but some in the media have turned on him pretty quickly. The Washington Post did an analysis of “Andrew Cuomo’s cringey apology, and Vogue noted that he was (finally) resigning after having printed Chelsea Handler’s love letter to the Luv Gov.

🧵THREAD🧵

Okay, one last Cuomo thread.

Governor Cuomo has resigned. The same outlets & talking heads who fawned endlessly over him are, suddenly, cheering along to his undoing, without a whiff of self-awareness for their role in making him into an icon.

Look at these 180s⤵️

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

You can’t start with anyone but @CNN. Perhaps no one gave more free air time to Cuomo to build him into a hero as an antidote to Trump.

Perhaps they’ve since forgotten. pic.twitter.com/FBRm9uyQvA

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

I mean. Does anyone think that this is journalism? Are we reporting on the news here @CNN? pic.twitter.com/NmP9x0u2Gj

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

@ChrisCillizza said in May 2020 that Cuomo had “benefited from radical transparency” and “came under criticism for being, essentially, a terrific bureaucrat” and I think about that a lot. pic.twitter.com/6v1BLad5ei

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

These from @ananavarro presented without comment. pic.twitter.com/J5X36m1EGX

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

@NPR’s original piece and what’s come to light since reminds me about how Cuomo told a female reporter back in 2017 that her question about addressing sexual misconduct in the run up to #MeToo was a “disservice to women.” pic.twitter.com/miUTsKNzsy

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

“… a reputation for … being controlling.”

Also entirely apropos of nothing, remember that Cuomo received over $110,000 in donations from Harvey Weinstein and his company and was the last high-profile Dem to give that money back after initially balking at doing so. https://t.co/6WwAmt8zFP

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

Speaking of the Times, I won’t pretend this is necessarily indicative of everything that @nytimes reported but, man, live by the punchy headline, die by the punchy headline. pic.twitter.com/RhMU4CT1iq

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

Life comes at you fast, @latimes pic.twitter.com/dRN1jMTify

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

Has anyone checked on @HuffPost? pic.twitter.com/gLUbccKvVF

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

“The New York governor has earned heartthrob billing during the coronavirus pandemic” … how enraging that had to be to 1) relatives of those who died in nursing homes and 2) the women he groped.

The cognitive dissonance here from @voguemagazine is just remarkable. pic.twitter.com/4Vev97Ia26

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

I’m not sure this is what @RollingStone had in mind when they had a cover feature last year asking Cuomo about what comes next. pic.twitter.com/TNiALMZYoH

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

Commentary writers are truly gifted in their ability to forget what they’ve said previously on a certain topic. @maureendowd provides a case study in that here. pic.twitter.com/AorfeF9ViZ

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

But no one – no one – can outdo @JRubinBlogger, from bona fide Cuomo reply guy to ‘oh he’s just a distraction’ pic.twitter.com/ihf6kRfzHK

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

H/t to @SirajAHashmi for this gem from @TheDailyShow. pic.twitter.com/Nj7rd7Eehk

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

You know how we get more Cuomo’s moving forward? With this type of memoryholing.

He only held on this long because so many people were willing to turn a blind eye to one of the “good guys” all this time.

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

As I’ve said many times, some coverage was really good, as seen here. Some reporters/outlets didn’t fall for it. A lot of the press in Albany hounded Cuomo on his Covid response, sexual misconduct allegations and more, as they have for years. https://t.co/KpahJCQDXl

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

But for the rest of them, I don’t want to hear about Cuomo unless it starts and ends with some accountability and introspection: what they got wrong, why, and how to do better next time.

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

As @neontaster pointed out, yes, everyone is within their right to change their opinions of a public person when new information comes to light.

But the corporate press needs to reckon with how they spent 18 months completely blinded to Cuomo’s failings, personal & professional.

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

The media is at its best when they speak truth to power. It’s at its worst when instead it seeks to uncritically glamorize the powerful.

We got a lot of the latter here, at a time where we desperately needed the former.

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

So I beg you, outlets and reporters who got this wrong: learn from this experience. Improve from it.

Be watchdogs, not lapdogs.

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

And for everyone else – most of whom I’m sure have no confidence that that’ll happen: stay vigilante. Don’t take stories at face value. Don’t worship politicians or people in power.

Be wary when the powers that be appear to be the least wary. Like, well, with things like this. pic.twitter.com/YdLlMN775A

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 10, 2021

He became useless to them. Calling for his resignation is like asking him to retire. He's a millionaire, still making money off his book, never had to admit to anything, will avoid impeachment leaving the option to run again and now he'll just fade into the sunset of his mansion

— comprehend_what_you_read (@YouComprehend) August 11, 2021

Related:

‘She’s undefeated’: Jennifer Rubin’s spin on Andrew Cuomo’s resignation cements her primo spot in the Hack Hall of Fame https://t.co/IXeYOkhcwt

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 10, 2021