Churchill: Andrew Cuomo’s scandals are his own fault

ALBANY — Andrew Cuomo says it would be “anti-democratic” for him to resign. Isn’t that rich?

The governor didn’t feel the similarly when allegations were levied at former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman or former Cohoes Mayor Shawn Morse. Cuomo sternly declared that both men had to go.

But then was them, and this is him. That was then, and this is now.

Grondahl: Cuomo’s mother, sister remain by his side amid accusations

The GOP wants Cuomo impeached. So how would that work? 

Woman on the verge: Hochul praised for her ability to connect

“There is no way I resign,” the Democrat said Sunday. “Let’s do the attorney general’s investigation, let’s get the findings, let’s go from there.”

This is a buy-some-time strategy, employed in the hope that the mushrooming scandals engulfing Team Cuomo will dissipate and be forgotten as attention shifts elsewhere. But there’s no sign that’s going to happen.

In fact, within hours of Cuomo’s defiant pronouncement, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins called on Cuomo to step down for the good of the state. Soon after, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said much the same.

Coming to an inbox near you

Our writers share more about the topics they cover in our newsletters.

Churchill’s Corner: Chris Churchill goes in depth on his latest columns, and shares what readers are saying. Sign up here.

Editor’s Note (subscribers only): Editor Casey Seiler shares the story behind our biggest stories of the week. Sign up here.

Click here for a complete list of newsletter offerings.

As Stewart-Cousins noted, Cuomo isn’t facing just a single scandal or investigation. There are allegations of inappropriate behavior levied by a growing cohort of women, of course, along with separate revelations about the governor’s bullying and the toxic environment in his office.

And, of course, we mustn’t forget about Cuomo’s attempt to hide the number of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19 — a scandal that includes last week’s revelation, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, that Cuomo administration officials scrubbed the death total from a state Department of Health report.

That’s a cover-up, plain and simple. It’s deception about an important public health issue. And during a pandemic!

It doesn’t get more consequential than that, but Stewart-Cousins also mentioned “questions about the construction of a major infrastructure project” in her call for the governor to resign — a reference to a Times Union investigation into the hiding of structural issues at the new downstate bridge named for the governor’s father.

There are so many scandals that it’s difficult to keep up. What new horror will tomorrow bring?

Some of you, I’m aware from my inbox and social media accounts, see a conspiracy in all this, believing that some fellow named Donald Trump is behind the governor’s pain. The grand plan, according to the theory, is to have Cuomo replaced by somebody who will pardon the former president for criminal charges he might face in New York.

In other words, we’re supposed to believe that Trump, despite all available evidence, is some sort of Machiavellian mastermind who is now convincing – or perhaps even paying – women to come forward with claims against the governor. People believe that? Really?!

The theory is horribly insulting to the women and the gravity of their allegations, of course. It ignores the courage necessary to challenge the most powerful man in the state, and it attempts to absolve the governor of all responsibility. The theory is also completely bonkers.

Contrary to what some seem to believe, neither Donald Trump Jr. or Ted Cruz becomes New York’s governor if Cuomo resigns or is impeached. Instead, the task falls to Kathy Hochul, the lieutenant governor.

Hochul, 62, would be the state’s first woman governor. The Democrat would be the first governor from Buffalo since Grover Cleveland. Warm and congenial, she is the temperamental opposite of Cuomo and would therefore offer New Yorkers a refreshing change of pace.

More to the point, there is no universe in which Hochul would pardon Trump. It is also extremely unlikely, in this deep-blue state, that the person elected in 2022 would either dare or want to pardon Trump. (And, no, Elise Stefanik, the Republican congresswoman from the North Country, will not be elected governor.)

The prevalence of the CuoAnon conspiracy, as it’s being called, suggests many on the left still need to get Donald Trump out of their heads. (Not everything is about him, folks.) It’s also a warning, if anybody needed one, that wacky, social media-driven conspiracies are flourishing on both sides of the aisle.

Of course, Cuomo encouraged conspiratorial thinking by repeatedly falsely claiming that criticism of his nursing home policies was motivated only by partisan politics. The claim was a clever way to keep Cuomo’s Teflon in place. It was a way to play partisan divisions to his advantage.

But it wasn’t Trump or unicorns or mystical spirits that led Cuomo to deceive New Yorkers about the number of nursing home deaths. It was his decision, implemented over many months. Now, he’s rightly facing the consequences.

An earlier version of this column mistakenly said former president William McKinley was from Buffalo.

cchurchill@timesunion.com ■ 518-454-5442 ■ @chris_churchill