Despite being neck-deep in multiple scandals, earlier this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo held a $10,000-a-head fundraiser at the Manhattan Rockefeller Center and managed to raise over a million dollars.
Cuomo not only faces multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, but his actions during the COVID pandemic have also (finally) come under scrutiny. Earlier this year, the media finally covered his nursing home policy, which resulted in a massive and deadly outbreak of COVID-19 among the most vulnerable—which he tried to cover up.
Yet it seems none of this matters to the 150 deep-pocketed allies of the scandal-plagued governor, who seemed confident that he would survive the controversies. Donors were willing to shell out five figures for a meal and a photo with the guy who probably killed their elderly parents and likely made a pass at their daughters.
According to one person at the event, “everyone was posing for pictures like nothing was going on.”
I bet they were. How typical of Democrats. When a scandal affects one of their own, they’ve found all they need to do is wait things out a while, then pretend it never happened and write a check when influence is for sale.
Related: Andrew Cuomo Rakes in Millions for Book on Crisis He Failed to Handle and Faces Impeachment For
I guess it’s not all that shocking; Joe Biden became the Democratic nominee in 2020 and got quite a large number of votes despite allegations of sexual misconduct by at least eight women, including one who accused him of sexual assault. And then there’s that whole thing when 307,000 veterans died while waiting for medical treatment from the VA during the Obama-Biden administration—which they tried to cover up. So I guess Cuomo’s crimes are small beans compared to Biden.
Still, earlier this year, it seemed that Cuomo would be one of those rare Democrats who would be held accountable. When Cuomo’s nursing home policy started to (finally) get attention from the media, there was a definite shift in the tides. Democrats in the New York state Senate moved to strip Cuomo of his emergency COVID powers. Cuomo also faced calls from within his party to be impeached and prosecuted for his cover-up of nursing home COVID deaths. Allegations of sexual misconduct combined with the nursing home scandal seemed too much for him to overcome. But Cuomo and his allies feel confident in his ability to ride out the storm, even though Nancy Pelosi called the sexual misconduct allegations against Cuomo “serious and credible” a few months ago.
While Cuomo’s political future may still be in question, the fact that his allies haven’t jumped ship tells you all you need to know about the Democratic Party. Cuomo knew this. Heck, he sat and watched Virginia Governor Ralph Northam survive his KKK/blackface photo scandal. Within two years, Joe Biden went from calling for Northam to resign in disgrace to praising the man. If that’s not a testament to the Democratic Party’s lack of ethical standards, I don’t know what is.
Yes, these scandals still damaged Cuomo politically, but not enough. That much is clear. Andrew Cuomo should be persona non grata within his party, but the way he’s still bringing in the money suggests he’s confident he’ll be around a while.
