Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Why Didn't Democrats Call on Cuomo to Resign After The COVID Nursing Home Scandal?

Andrew Cuomo finally waved the white flag and announced his resignation as Governor of New York effective two weeks from now. The resignation came amid a report released last week by New York Attorney General Letitia James revealing sustained sexual harassment of 11 women including a state trooper. The report prompted President Biden to call upon Cuomo to resign. The writing was on the wall.

Yet this wasn't the first damning report James issued against Cuomo this year. Back in January, James revealed the Cuomo Administration undercounted the number of COVID deaths in nursing homes by as much as 50%. But this did not move Democrats to call upon Cuomo to resign. This only happened after the sexual harassment allegations came to light in late February and early March. At the time, I posed the question, "If Cuomo wasn't facing sexual harassment allegations would any Democrat have called upon him to step down for contributing to the deaths of 15,000 New York nursing home residents?

I'm not arguing sexual harassment isn't a serious matter. Cuomo could face criminal charges. Nevertheless, Cuomo implemented a policy which substantially increased the number of COVID deaths in New York and saw fit to cover them up. Under the circumstances, it is reasonable to ask why President Biden and other Democrats didn't see fit to call for Cuomo's head when James released this first report.

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