Despite a recent dramatic increase of COVID-19 cases prompting new restrictions, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is moving forward with his “victory lap” on his handling of the pandemic by releasing a book titled American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic (yes, really).
Already chastised for releasing a bizarre poster to kick off his “victory tour,” Cuomo’s decision to double-down and release a book touting his efforts in the middle of a pandemic that has cost the lives of 33,000 New Yorkers, with over a million residents losing their jobs, can be best described as tone deaf. Political observers from both sides of the aisle have offered their sharp rebuke of Cuomo’s “ill-timed” and “immoral” decision to profit off of a book following his “failed” response to the “most catastrophic outbreak in the world.”
While Cuomo has time to write a book and hobnob with liberal fans in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. for virtual book tour events, he’s yet to accept responsibility and come clean about his negligent handling of New York’s most vulnerable population, which directly contributed to upwards of 11,000 deaths in nursing homes across the state.
Cuomo’s Decision To “Cash In” By Releasing A Book About The Actions He Took Amid The COVID-19 Pandemic Is “Shameful”
The New York Post Headline: “Gov. Cuomo Looks to Cash In With Book On Pandemic Despite NY Death Toll”
- “Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a new book coming out — and it’s all about himself… But there was no mention on whether it would include the governor bungling the response to COVID-19 in nursing homes, which has left at least 6,600 dead — a move he’s vehemently defended.”
The Daily Mail: “Critics said it was shameful for him to be trying to make money from the situation when New York has been the worst-hit state by far in the nation.”
The Buffalo News: “The book project by Cuomo has been getting slammed by some of his critics on the left and right, who question Cuomo personally profiting from a book about a virus that has killed 25,000 New Yorkers – more than any other state.”
It Is “Premature,” “Obscene” For Cuomo To Be Taking A Victory Lap
The Wall Street Journal: “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic” recounts Mr. Cuomo’s interactions with the federal government and other scenes from his response to this year’s coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more New Yorkers than residents of any other state.”
- “…The book’s launch may be ill-timed and raises the question of whether the public has an appetite for its contents.”
CBS News: “But to some, a book about ‘lessons’ seems, if not presumptuous, at least a bit premature. COVID cases are on the rise in a number of states, including New York.”
The Guardian: “His book may be intended as a victory lap of sorts. Since it went to press, however, cases have begun to rise again.”
Albany Times Union: “Some critics have questioned the quick release of the new book that touts what they say is a victory lap for a crisis that is far from over. New York’s COVID-19 numbers have climbed in recent weeks, pushed by outbreaks in the New York City area.”
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle: “Cuomo’s critics have taken him to task for writing the book while the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing. Coronavirus cases have been steadily increasing in New York in recent weeks…”
Ross Barkan, The Guardian: “32,000 people died from COVID-19 in New York. Andrew Cuomo presided over the most catastrophic outbreak in the world and failed to keep these people alive. Now he’s writing a book about it.”
David Sirota, Senior Advisor, Bernie 2020
https://twitter.com/davidsirota/status/1295738747334533120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1295738747334533120%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fmedia%2F512927-cuomo-dismisses-criticism-of-timing-on-his-book-about-coronavirus-crisis
: “This is like if George Bush wrote a self-congratulatory memoir about Hurricane Katrina a few weeks after the storm hit.”State Senator Gustavo Rivera (D): “We should not be doing this right now, taking a victory lap, when we have more deaths in this state than any other state in the nation, more deaths than most countries in the world… It is obscene. It is immoral. And the governor shouldn’t do it.”
