Progressive journalist and ThinkProgress founder/alumnus Judd Legum has been watching New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lately, and he’s appalled by what he’s seen:
1. @NYGovCuomo became a pandemic star by contrasting himself with Trump
Cuomo crafted an IMAGE of being determined, honest and grounded in science
But 11 months later this image is falling apart
Follow along for a FACTUAL assessment of Cuomo's recordhttps://t.co/Hl4fsFxB6l
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
2. Cuomo WROTE A BOOK, published in October, celebrating his own leadership during the pandemic.
Cuomo writes that NY had "confronted and defeated" the virus, and had "achieved what all the experts told us was impossible."
Today, things look different.https://t.co/Hl4fsFxB6l
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
3. Today, New York has 338 people hospitalized with COVID per million residents.
This is the HIGHEST NUMBER IN ANY STATE by a considerable margin.https://t.co/Hl4fsFxB6l pic.twitter.com/D4TiThBTba
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
4. Overall, 46K New Yorkers have died of COVID, which trails only California (47K), a state with 2x as many people.
On a per capita basis, New York has had more deaths than every state but New Jersey.
Cuomo made decisions that made things worse.https://t.co/Hl4fsFxB6l
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
5. A new report by NY AG Letitia James (D) found Cuomo's order requiring nursing homes to accept residents w/COVID "may have put residents at increased risk of harm"
Cuomo dismissed criticisms of his nursing home policies in his book as "despicable"https://t.co/Hl4fsFxB6l
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
6. James also found that Cuomo was severely undercounting the number of COVID deaths in nursing homes. After James' report, Cuomo released new numbers which show that nursing home deaths were much higher than previously disclosed. https://t.co/Hl4fsFxB6l pic.twitter.com/4a0UI7nJFZ
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
7. A top Cuomo aide told a group of Democratic legislators that the administration did not release accurate nursing home data earlier because they were concerned the data "was going to be used against us."https://t.co/Hl4fsFxB6l
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
8. Cuomo's missteps weren't limited to nursing homes. He didn't issue a shelter in place order until March 22.
It was floated by the NYC mayor on March 17 and Cuomo dismissed it
"The fear, the panic, is a bigger problem than the virus."https://t.co/Hl4fsFxB6l
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
9. A delay of 5 days might not seem like a big deal.
But "Columbia University epidemiologists later estimated that a week’s delay in March quintupled the number of deaths in the New York metro area in the pandemic’s first two months."https://t.co/Hl4fsFxB6l
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
10. Today, Cuomo, who claimed to be guided by scientific expertise, has a much different perspective
“When I say ‘experts’ in air quotes, it sounds like I’m saying I don’t really trust the experts. Because I don’t. Because I don’t," Cuomo said on 1/29/21https://t.co/Hl4fsFxB6l
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
12. Final note: COVID is an extremely complex problem. I'm not aware of any political leaders who have handled the situation perfectly. Nor should we expect them to.
But only one, that I know of, wrote a book in the middle of the pandemic celebrating their own leadership.
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 16, 2021
Dang.
A thread I wasn’t expecting from Judd. https://t.co/8uZMi49E9P
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) February 16, 2021
Hell has just frozen over! https://t.co/ZNFKgsdkf5
— Tom Isaac Newton (@Iast3Ietters) February 16, 2021
Judd did journalism. https://t.co/yKTGcaIKJG
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 16, 2021
How refreshing.
Media personalities in search of credibility FINALLY realize telling some truth may help that endeavor. https://t.co/ANdP4zXSI4
— Johnny Bravo (@Johnbravoesq) February 16, 2021
Where were you last April and May when conservative media outlets were hammering Cuomo on his nursing home order, Judd? https://t.co/ngH5Wlcbtx
— Sister Toldjah, VP of BS Detection ? (@sistertoldjah) February 16, 2021
That’s a fair question. But we’ll give him props for opening his eyes and so forcefully condemning Andrew Cuomo. A lot of liberal journalists are still unwilling to do that.
We’ve been telling y’all this for nearly a year now https://t.co/J3uOoGa7zO
— terriblepoliticalopinions (@terriblepoliti2) February 16, 2021
This person had what alcoholics referred to as “a moment of clarity“… 6 months after everyone else. https://t.co/YD8DcL0kzl
— Carlton Hinds (@methuselaschild) February 16, 2021
He didn't craft that image by himself. He had help. It's nice that you guys are finally calling him out, but it's a pointless exercise if you don't also call out his enablers.
Oh, and congrats on finally catching up to Conservatives on knowing that Cuomo screwed the pooch. https://t.co/Vojdnrp6m9
— Eric Spencer (@JustEric) February 16, 2021
Better late than never, we suppose.
Thank you. https://t.co/xNcHuJRBHz
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) February 16, 2021
Hopefully more liberal journalists will follow Judd Legum’s example and hold Andrew Cuomo accountable. We won’t hold our breath, but as Legum has demonstrated, it’s not impossible.
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