Andrew Cuomo was seen as a hero for standing up to Donald Trump. Now they look a lot alike

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This article was published 04/08/2021 (1888 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON — “This is going be a long day, and it’s going to be a hard day, and it’s going to be an ugly day, and it’s going to be a sad day.”

That was New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaking more than a year ago, when he was widely considered to be the U.S. pandemic consoler-in-chief — taking charge and saying all the things many thought then-president Donald Trump should have been saying, but wasn’t.

You could easily imagine Cuomo having said it again on Tuesday, when a report from the New York attorney general’s office accused him of being a serial sexual harasser who created a climate of fear in his own office.

The contents of the report, which detailed allegations of 11 women who said they had been groped, propositioned and otherwise preyed on by their boss, and his sleazy efforts to silence them and rule by intimidation, made the day long and hard and ugly and sad. But it was Cuomo’s guns-blazing attempt to deny everything and claim he was the real victim that made it uglier. And sadder.

A year ago, Cuomo was a kind of bizarro-world Trump — the paternalistic, plain-speaking and righteous bully who fuelled Democrats’ imaginations. Like Trump, he was from Queen’s in New York City; like Trump, the brash son of an accomplished operator who followed Dad into the family business and matched or exceeded his profile; like Trump, surrounded on the public stage by family; and like Trump, he had accumulated a long list of enemies.

Unlike Trump, Democrats imagined, Cuomo wielded his brass-knuckled grip on power for the public good. He was famously ruthless, as Maureen Dowd wrote in an admiring New York Times profile that went on to claim that “ruthlessness is good, if it’s for a purpose” — and the purpose many saw in him then was, as he put it, “kicking coronavirus’s ass.” His daily news conferences, full of charts and tough-love empathy, competed for TV ratings with Trump’s narcissistic, free-association improvisations. Many speculated he could — or should — jump into the race for Democratic presidential nominee and run against Trump.

Now, you’d have to think his political career is just about over.

The women’s group UltraViolet hired a plane to fly over the New York Capitol in Albany on Wednesday, pulling a banner calling for him to be removed from office. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden said he should resign. Many of his state’s Democratic legislators have called for him to step down. The governors of four neighbouring states issued a statement demanding his resignation.

It turns out that, as with Trump, Cuomo’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis was far from ideal. He continues to face investigations into how his handling of the events might have contributed to deaths in nursing homes, and into a $5-million deal for a book he authored to celebrate his response to the pandemic.

It also turns out that, like Trump, there is a long list of women who accuse Cuomo of being a predator: a former executive assistant, whose story was detailed in Attorney General Letitia James’s report, says he touched her breast and buttocks without invitation and made suggestive comments to her; a police officer charged with protecting him said his uninvited touching of her belly made her feel “completely violated.” The report alleges a pattern of harassment, and a culture that fostered it with fear and intimidation. When one of his accusers went public, James reports, Cuomo’s office obtained her personnel file and distributed unflattering elements of it to the media.

And it turns out that like Trump, Cuomo refuses to go down without a fight. He has denied the accusations, both in a video statement released Tuesday, and in an 85-page rebuttal (which included eight pages of photos that show him kissing and hugging people, and another 15 pages with photos of other public figures embracing each other).

His denials were as absolute as the claims of the “perfect call” that led to Trump’s first impeachment. “I want you to know directly from me that I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances,” Cuomo said. “That’s just not who I am.” He claimed his warmth and caring had maybe been misinterpreted. He suggested the attorney general’s report was a “biased review,” and that its conclusions were driven by politics. He didn’t use the words “witch hunt,” but that was certainly the inference.

For the women who made the sad and terrible allegations, the report might offer some level of validation. Some told James that they initially remained silent because they were convinced justice would never be served against this vindictive and powerful man. Measures of justice beyond the report now lie in the hands of prosecutors, who could decide to press charges, or with the New York legislature, which could impeach Cuomo.

For the larger public, especially those people who so enthusiastically supported Cuomo a year ago, the question is less about justice than political principles and human decency. Many long stood astonished at how Republicans and Trump supporters continued to support the former president even as details of his behaviour became public. Now comes a test of how they react when the guy they saw as their own champion gets an airing of his own filthy laundry.

For the moment, it seems few are sticking by Cuomo. Virtually everyone in a leadership position in his Democratic party has called for his resignation, including both senators from New York. A snap poll by Marist of 614 New Yorkers on Tuesday showed 59 per cent of respondents thought he should resign. He doesn’t have many defenders at the moment — although, as in the case of Trump, Rudy Giuliani seems willing to step up and be that guy (“We used to have trials before convictions,” Giuliani said).

Many experienced watchers of New York politics seem to expect Cuomo to try to ride this out — and maybe even run for a fourth term as governor next year. If he does, the New York political calendar promises a lot more long, hard, ugly and sad days ahead.

Edward Keenan is the Star’s Washington Bureau chief. He covers U.S. politics and current affairs. Reach him via email: ekeenan@thestar.ca