New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) will receive an International Emmy Founders Award for his “leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic” and “his masterful use of TV to inform and calm people around the world.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Zero. Nada. Niente. Zilch. How many words — what else do you need me to say?”
— New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, when asked by Howard Stern if he had any interest in joining Joe Biden’s cabinet.
Trump Accused of Quid Pro Quo with New York
President Trump appeared to link his administration’s policies toward New York to a demand that the state drop investigations and lawsuits related to his administration as well as his personal business and finances, Politico reports.
“Hours before New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was set to meet the president at the White House, Trump tweeted that Cuomo ‘must understand that National Security far exceeds politics,’ a reference to his administration’s recent decision to halt New York’s access to the Global Entry and other ‘trusted traveler’ programs that allow New Yorkers faster border crossings and shorter airport lines.”
Trump continued: “New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harrassment, start cleaning itself up, and lowering taxes.”
Trump’s invocation of “lawsuits & harrassment” was a reference to the state’s numerous lawsuits against his administration and also against Trump’s business.
Cuomo Signs Bill Allowing Release of Trump Taxes
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed a bill to allow congressional committees to access the president’s state tax returns, the New York Times reports.
The bill requires state tax officials to release the president’s state returns for any “specified and legitimate legislative purpose” on the request of the chair of one of three congressional committees: the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Committee on Taxation. It is effective immediately.
Trump Fumes About New York State Investigations
President Trump accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of using New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) to target his businesses for political purposes, claiming in an afternoon tweetstorm that the state sues “for everything” and is “always in search of a crime,” NBC News reports.
Said Trump: “It is very hard and expensive to live in New York. Governor Andrew Cuomo uses his Attorney General as a bludgeoning tool for his own purposes. They sue on everything, always in search of a crime. I even got sued on a Foundation which took Zero rent & expenses & gave away more money than it had.”
Cuomo Will Seek Fourth Term
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) told WAMC he will run for a fourth term in 2022.
Said Cuomo: “I believe this state is doing great things at a time when a nation is floundering. I believe that. I believe we have the opportunity to set a standard for progressivity and normalcy. I know this job, I work seven days a week at it, and I think we have accomplishments.”
Cuomo Goes ‘All In’ for Biden
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), “who has raised millions of dollars during his campaigns over the years, has indicated to associates in recent days that he will be opening his vast and powerful fundraising network exclusively to Joe Biden,” CNBC reports.
“Cuomo’s support could be a game-changer for Biden. While the former vice president has consistently led Democratic primary polls, he has been aggressively courting donors in a bid to catch up to an already crowded primary field that has a head start in the fundraising game. New York State Board of Elections data show Cuomo has raked in $100 million in campaign contributions since he first ran for governor in 2010. At least 80 percent of his backers have given him $10,000 or more.”
Cuomo Backs Effort to Get Trump’s State Tax Returns
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has said he would throw his weight behind an attempt to obtain what may be some of the president’s most sensitive secrets: those that could be buried in President Trump’s state tax returns, the New York Times reports.
Cuomo’s office said that it would back a new bill that would permit the New York Department of Taxation and Finance to release any state tax return — including the president’s — if it were requested by leaders of three congressional committees for any “specified and legitimate legislative purpose.”
Cuomo’s Job Approval Plummets
A new Siena College poll in New York finds Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) had a precipitous eight-point drop in his favorability rating, down to 43% from 51% last month.
And that may have been the good news: Cuomo’s job-performance rating was even worse, with just 35% of those surveyed saying he was doing a “excellent” or “good” job.
Cuomo Won’t Run for President
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) ruled out a potential bid for the presidency in 2020, saying that he has a “full plate” in his current role, The Hill reports.
Said Cuomo: “I am ruling it out. I ran for governor. I have a full plate. I have many projects. I’m going to be here doing the job of governor… I’m governor of New York and I have a lot to do.”
Will Andrew Cuomo Run for President?
New York Times: “Mr. Cuomo has increasingly framed his agenda as a part of the national fight with Mr. Trump, heightening questions about his own ambitions, even as Mr. Cuomo has said unequivocally that he will serve out a third term.”
“Those who know Mr. Cuomo best say he almost certainly would not run if Mr. Biden does. But if the former vice president passes? Mr. Cuomo could at least be tempted by a field he sees as less accomplished than himself.”
“Still, most say it is hard to see him taking the plunge. For one thing, he craves control of every situation, gaming out moves and countermoves to cover all eventualities. Presidential campaigns are fundamentally uncontrollable. For another, Mr. Cuomo’s dislike of the basics of retail politics has been a long-running joke among his campaign aides, past and present.”
Cuomo Won’t Run for President
“In his firmest denial of presidential ambitions yet, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Wednesday that, if re-elected, he would finish a full third term as New York’s governor — or die trying,” the New York Times reports.
Said Cuomo: ‘The only caveat is if God strikes me dead.”
Quote of the Day
“The expression I used the other day was inartful, so I want to be very clear. Of course America is great and of course America has always been great. No one questions that.”
— Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), quoted by the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, trying to walk back his declaration that America “was never that great.”
‘The Dumbest Thing You Could Say as a Politician’
Stephen Colbert slammed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for saying America “was never that great” this week, declaring on the CBS Late Show that the line was “the dumbest thing you could say as a politician.”
Said Colbert: “That is the dumbest thing you could say as a politician. That’s like closing your speech with, ‘Apple pie sucks, I’m lukewarm on the troops, and those stripes make the American flag look fat! Thank you, I hate my mother!’”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“We’re not going to make America great again, it was never that great.”
— Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), quoted by ABC News.
Trump Says Cuomo Promised Not to Run Against Him
In a trip to New York, President Trump claimed that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), thought to be a potential 2020 White House candidate, had once told him he would “never run for president against” him, the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “Oh, please do it.”
Shane Goldmacher: “I have asked five senior Cuomo advisers if it is true that Cuomo once told Trump he would never run against him, as Trump said today. None of them has responded.”
Cuomo Calls on Schneiderman to Resign
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called on Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) to resign over abuse charges detailed in a New Yorker story.
New York Times: “The allegations against Mr. Schneiderman, the chief law enforcement officer of the state, who has cast himself as a defender and champion of women, could derail his re-election prospects later this year. He has been the heavy favorite to win a third term.”
Inside One of America’s Ugliest Political Feuds
New York Times: “The idea of Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Cuomo ever collaborating on anything seems almost unfathomable nearly 16 years later. The two Democrats are now engaged in a feud so nasty, petty and prolonged that even in the cutthroat politics of New York, few can remember ever seeing anything quite like it. The two men have sparred over substance, silliness and everything in between: public housing and private workout routines, homelessness and topless women in Times Square, taxing millionaires and euthanizing a deer, a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak and state troop deployments, schools, snowstorms and the subways — even naps.”
