From presidential contender with an Emmy and a book deal to disgrace: the rise and fall of Andrew Cuomo

Andrew Cuomo is under fire following reports he under reported care home deaths in New York

Credit: AP

An Emmy, a best-selling book and potential presidential nomination: Andrew Cuomo was basking in a media-driven political paradise as the coronavirus ravaged New York.

But less than a year later the governor has fallen from a tremendous height. 

While Mr Cuomo filled a vacuum left by Donald Trump’s fumbling, New York state was underreporting Covid-19 deaths in care homes. 

Almost half of deaths in these facilities were missing from public tolls until the end of January. The official count increased from 8,500 to more than 15,000, or a third of the entire state’s deaths. 

Mr Cuomo is facing intense scrutiny: Just how much did he know about the crisis unfolding in nursing homes last year?

In a call with Democratic lawmakers last week, Mr Cuomo’s top aide said the administration withheld data from an initial investigation because it wanted to avoid Mr Trump turning the statistics into “a giant political football”.

“Basically, we froze… What we start saying was going to be used against us,” Melissa DeRosa said in the call’s transcript. 

Andrew Cuomo lead New Yorkers are the virus ravaged the state

Credit: AFP

On Monday Mr Cuomo confessed for the first time that his administration had been slow to release data, adding that the gap gave life to "scepticism and cynicism, and conspiracy theories which furthered the confusion”.

The staff were "too focused on doing the job and addressing the crisis of the moment,” he reasoned. 

A federal investigation is now looking into whether the governor’s task force manipulated the figures.

“Apologise?” Mr Cuomo said, an hour into a press briefing designed to calm the situation. “Look, I have said repeatedly, we made a mistake.”

Under his leadership New York implemented lockdown and social distancing guidelines, worked to improve hospital capacity and rolled out the most thorough testing regime in the United States. 

Succinct press conferences gave reassurance to New Yorkers, and were revered both across the country and internationally. Mr Cuomo received an Emmy for his efforts.  

“Andrew Cuomo Is the Control Freak We Need Right Now,” the New York Times wrote in March.

Succinct press conferences gave reassurance to New Yorkers

Credit: Mike Segar 

 At the height of Cuomo mania, rumours suggested he could replace Joe Biden for the presidential ticket. 

He became a pop-culture icon. Twitter users idolised him, calling him a “badass” and even debating if he had nipple piercings. 

The rumours were so fierce that New York Magazine dedicated an investigation entitled ‘What’s the Deal With Andrew Cuomo’s Nipples?’

Mr Cuomo’s senior aide was forced to deny the speculation. “Of course not, sorry, internet,” Rich Azzopardi told The New York Post.

The governor then published a best selling memoir to provide “leadership lessons” from the pandemic. It sold 11,800 copies within a week of its release. 

"It was absurd," said Lincoln Mitchell, a politics expert from Columbia University.

Andrew Cuomo underwent a nasal swab test himself at his daily briefing to encourage New Yorkers to follow his lead

Credit: Angus Mordant /Bloomberg

The most critical of Mr Cuomo accuse him of covering up the nursing home scandal to protect this carefully curated image. 

"The star has fallen quite a bit," professor of political science at the University of Buffalo, Jacob Neiheisel, said.

Professor Neiheisel added that a "reappraisal" of his administration’s pandemic policy is taking place.

The executive powers given to Mr Cuomo last year are being reconsidered by the Democratically controlled state senate, while Republicans are demanding resignations from senior figures in his administration. 

Others argue Mr Cuomo’s drop in approval was inevitable given that he won plaudits simply because he was better than Mr Trump. 

"We now have an administration in Washington that is able to reckon with Covid in an earnest way, to listen to the science and to communicate effectively," said Professor Mitchell.

"I don’t know anyone, even in New York or Washington, who watches his briefings anymore.”