Andrew Cuomo’s nursing home scandal isn’t going away. In fact, it’s only getting worse. The former New York governor’s decision to send COVID-positive patients into nursing homes during the pandemic led to the deaths of thousands of elderly residents. Then, to make matters worse, his administration undercounted those deaths. The Cuomo team didn’t just make a mistake—they actively tried to hide the truth.
This isn’t just a political hit job, as Cuomo often claims. It’s about accountability. These were people’s parents and grandparents. Lives lost because of reckless decisions. And now, Cuomo’s trying to brush it off like it’s old news. But families remember, and so does New York. The scandal forced him to resign, and rightly so.
From Daily Caller:
Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo got into a heated shouting match on Tuesday over Cuomo’s responsibility for nursing home deaths during the COVID-19 lockdowns…“This is about those seniors, governor. They deserve to hear from you, in the eye that you apologize. That you were negotiating for a multimillion dollar book deal. It is a disgrace. There is a reason why you are the former governor of New York state and you will never hold elected office again. I yield back.”
Now, he’s back in the spotlight, and not in a good way. During a heated exchange in a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik held Cuomo’s feet to the fire. Stefanik has been relentless in seeking answers about the nursing home deaths. And she didn’t let up during the hearing, accusing Cuomo of hiding behind his staff and dodging responsibility.
Stefanik zeroed in on a key point: Cuomo’s multimillion-dollar book deal. Yes, while seniors were dying, Cuomo was cashing in on his “leadership” during the pandemic. “When were you negotiating for your multimillion-dollar book deal as seniors were dying in nursing homes?” Stefanik asked. Cuomo, unsurprisingly, tried to deflect. He questioned her facts, but she wasn’t having it.
Stefanik wasn’t just throwing accusations forthe cameras. She had receipts. The House Oversight Committee’s investigation found that Cuomo and his aides made a deliberate choice to undercount nursing home deaths. They changed the way the fatalities were reported, conveniently leaving out deaths that occurred outside the nursing home itself. It was a calculated move to downplay the crisis, all while Cuomo was writing his victory lap of a book.
Cuomo, of course, denied any wrongdoing. He pushed back, saying, “You can’t make up facts, congresswoman.” But Stefanik didn’t back down. She told him to turn around and face the families who lost loved ones and apologize. It was a powerful moment, one that cut through Cuomo’s usual arrogance.
As the back-and-forth continued, Cuomo tried to shift the blame, bringing up the total number of COVID deaths across the U.S. But Stefanik wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. “This is about those seniors, governor,” she said. “There is a reason why you are the former governor of New York state and you will never hold elected office again.”
Cuomo’s fall from grace isn’t just about mismanagement; it’s about betrayal. He failed the most vulnerable when they needed him most, then he tried to cover it up. Stefanik’s grilling on Tuesday was a reminder that accountability isn’t optional, and Cuomo will continue to face questions about the decisions he made.
Cuomo may want to move on, but for the families of those who died, this is far from over.
Many,many valuable seniors died in my husband’s nursing home in Queens. i remember a Korean veteran who died. Cuomo had the choice of putting them on the USNS Comfort or in the Jacob Javits Center. He chose not to because they came from President Trump. The disrespect he had for the Samaritan Purse nurses and doctors camping out in front of Mount Sinai coming from all over the US using their own money to het to NYC to treat Covid patients.
Cuomo turned them down when they asked for money to return home.