The New York State Democrat Ron Kim’s assertion this week that Governor Andrew Cuomo threatened to “destroy” him in a spate of the state’s nursing home crisis was the last time a political rival was the longtime governor of accused of bullying tactics.
Cuomo and Kim had a civil war over what took place during a call between the two last week, hours after the New York Post reported that one of the assistant governors, Melissa DeRosa, admitted that his office had data on COVID-19 withheld. deaths at nursing homes.
In a series of media appearances, Kim claims that Cuomo threatened to ruin the career of the assembly unless he returned the remarks to the Post in which he said the government was ‘trying to evade having any incriminating evidence’.
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While a top assistant denies that the governor ever threatened to “destroy” Kim, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, another regular Cuomo fighter, supported Kim’s claims during an appearance on MSNBC. The mayor suggested Cuomo’s behavior was part of a long history of intimidation.
“It’s a sad thing to say, but it’s the classic Andrew Cuomo. A lot of people in New York State have received the calls. The bullying is nothing new,” de Blasio said.
Representatives from Cuomo did not immediately return a request for comment on de Blasio’s comments.
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Allegations that Cuomo is a ‘bully’ for his political opponents are ahead of the scandal in the old age home. Actress Cynthia Nixon, who unsuccessfully ran against Cuomo in the New York Democratic governor’s newspaper in 2018, has repeatedly attacked the governor over his behavior on the campaign.
“We’ve all seen it: Andrew the bully,” Nixon told a news conference in March 2018, according to the Democrat and Chronicle. “He bullies other elected officials. He bullies everyone who criticizes him. He even picks the media with his reference to ‘your little questions’.”
Marc Molinaro, who challenged Cuomo to the Republican ticket in 2018, made a similar remark at the time.
“Listen, we’ve all experienced it,” Molinaro said, according to Politico.
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The hostility between Cuomo and de Blasio, who regularly clashed over state and city policies during the coronavirus pandemic, extends even further. Since becoming mayor in 2014, he has had Cuomo’s ability to experience him on policy initiatives in New York.
When the two Democrats clashed in 2015 over the mayor’s control of New York City schools, de Blasio Cuomo ventured and told reporters, “If someone openly disagrees with him, some kind of revenge or vendetta follows.”
Cuomo rejected Blasio’s claim.
“My way is exactly the opposite and the proof is in the pudding,” Cuomo told NY1 at the time. He added that de Blasio was “frustrated” because he did not “get everything he wanted.”
Former Syracuse mayor Stephanie Miner, a former Cuomo ally, outlined a contrast to the governor in an interview with the New York Times in 2015. She told the newspaper that Cuomo would regularly put pressure on the media.
Miner said that his behavior “takes the form of anonymous threats and that third parties also come and threaten you.”
Meanwhile, Cuomo’s allies and top assistants describe his hard-line approach to politics as a necessity to succeed in the difficult political landscape of New York.
“New Yorkers want government officials who can run and end up with the legislature,” Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s longtime adviser, told the Times that year.
Cuomo’s leadership during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic has drawn tremendous criticism in some quarters. Last November, the governor received an Emmy Award to commemorate his management of the situation in New York and his “masterful use of television to inform and calm people around the world.”
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This month, the setback over New York’s nursing home scandal – Cuomo’s public conversation with Kim – led to an uprising among state lawmakers, several of whom signed a letter calling for the governor’s Emmy Award to be revoked.
Meanwhile, Cuomo’s office said its focus remains on fighting the pandemic, not political disputes.
“While these politicians have enough free time to write shocking letters and issue self-important press releases, our focus is still on vaccinating as many people as possible and leading the state through this public health crisis,” Cuomo spokesman Jack Sterne said. , said response to the letter. “New Yorkers have seen the governor show up and fight on their behalf daily for almost a year, and therefore support his actions to defeat COVID by a large margin.”