Andrew Cuomo and his former top enforcer (no, not the one who was convicted of taking bribes, the one who just wrote a book about the excesses of the #MeToo movement) went on Bill Maher's show on Friday night to soft-launch their comeback into polite society.
How did it go? Well, according to this clip that HBO published of Cuomo's interview, within 60 seconds of Maher asking the former governor about whether he thinks President Joe Biden should run for a second term, Cuomo proclaims that we are governed by "fear-driven politics" and then says the phrase "fingers in the vagina."
"This cancel culture, it's a loaded gun, and they can use it against anyone anytime even for their self-interest. But I think what Biden's calculus was, he was accused of Tara Reade—fingers in the vagina. Sorry, mom," Cuomo said, as the crowd laughed nervously. "Other women came out, 'He smelled my hair,' et cetera. He wanted quickly to distance himself from this. Which is ironic, because the same attorney who represented the Tara Reade case, is the main attorney who drove this case against me. And he could have said, you know what, I went through this, let's take a deep breath, and actually get the facts before we ask the governor to resign."
If you heard someone say this at a party, you'd have slowly started walking backwards at the word "ironic," using your peripheral vision to locate someone else you know to rope into a different conversation, one that doesn't involve press-hungry corporate attorneys who wronged you in a past life. But this is one of the most ruthless politicians of his generation, whose ruthlessness was mostly aimed at keeping himself in power, talking about "fear-driven politics," and in the very same breath, resurfacing graphic allegations of sexual assault against the president—who just happened to be the most powerful Democrat urging Cuomo to resign in the summer of 2021.
Cuomo goes on to say that he would "probably" be running against Biden if he were still governor (in other words, if he hadn't been disgraced by the credible reports of sexual harassment and the investigation into nursing home deaths during the pandemic and his book deal that had government employees on the state payroll working to publish a book that no one read that netted him millions of dollars).
"I think the Democratic party has to engage with real people and real voters on a different level," Cuomo said. "I think they're too much in Washington, too much Trump is no good and Trump is a bum. You can't run on banking that the other guy is gonna lose. You have to have an affirmative strategy to win."
Democrats aren't talking about real issues and real people. Wow this is some cutting-edge political shit. Someone get this guy a podcast!
Okay, you've thought enough about Andrew Cuomo today, here are some other stories to read:
- It's becoming impossible for many asylum seekers to find a bed to sleep in, so many are sleeping on floors, or under the BQE, or, soon, on Floyd Bennett Field, as the Adams administration continues to throw up its hands. The Times has a good account about how migrants make New York City their primary destination, and NY1 has a story about how the Hochul administration is looking to turn its back on these human beings. DocGo (remember DocGo?) is facing lawsuits from investors.
- Three people accused of assassinating Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay in 2002 may finally be put on trial.
- Donald Trump does not give a shit about your gag order.
- SBF trial is lit.
- "Westchester school district cancels fundraiser after some parents say UNICEF is antisemitic"
- The Times-Union reports that the suspect in the Maine mass shooting that killed 18 people was acting erratically at West Point over the summer, and should have triggered our state's "red flag" laws.
- Public safety mayor pulls the plug on a whole new class of school safety agents, while another NYPD officer who killed someone has been cleared of all charges.
- Stephanie Sharp, a 54-year-old NYPD tow truck driver, has been charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care, both misdemeanors, after she struck and killed 7-year-old Kamari Hughes in Fort Greene on Thursday morning.
- How long have you lived in NoCoCaMadSo?
- Top mayoral advisor and possible hand-thrower Tim Pearson might be in a heap of trouble.
- Thousands of New Yorkers took to the streets on Saturday to support Palestinians.
- The "Friends" apartment has become the site of a memorial to actor Matthew Perry, who died at age 54 over the weekend.
And finally, Bike Kill Bike Killed. "Sandstorm" is great for jousting.
