Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo testified before a House panel on Tuesday regarding nursing home deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cuomo refused to take responsibility for a New York State Department of Health order that prohibited nursing homes from denying admittance to patients “solely based upon a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.” The best he could do was say that he was “sorry for every life lost” during the pandemic.
As seniors were dying in nursing homes, Corrupt Cuomo was negotiating a multimillion-dollar book deal.
There is a reason he is the FORMER Governor of New York and he will NEVER hold elected office again. pic.twitter.com/fnlkor6oum
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) September 10, 2024
“You apologized today, but there are families sitting here — I want you to turn around, look them in the eye, and apologize, which you failed to do. Will you do it?” asked Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
“Congresswoman, this is not about political theater,” Cuomo responded. “It’s about giving answers.”
“This is about accountability … This is about those seniors, governor. They deserve to hear from you, in the eye, that you apologized, that you were negotiating for a multimillion-dollar book deal. It is a disgrace. There is a reason you are the former governor of New York state and you will never hold elected office again,” Stefanik said at the end of the heated exchange.
The Washington Post reports on Cuomo’s testimony before the house panel. Here’s the start of the story:
Andrew M. Cuomo — who won national acclaim in early 2020 for his seemingly steady management as the coronavirus ravaged New York — on Tuesday faced an aggressive panel in Congress, which battered the former New York governor over his administration’s controversial directive to send more than 9,000 coronavirus-infected people back into nursing homes.
And lawmakers demanded that he apologize for other pandemic decisions.
“It appears there’s to be no soul-searching from you, governor … no self-critique of what could have been done better. … Just doubling-down and blaming others,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), who chairs the House panel dedicated to investigating the nation’s coronavirus response.
The combative and sometimes theatrical hearing was held more than four years after the nursing home order was issued and more than three years after Cuomo resigned as governor amid a cascade of sexual harassment complaints. It unfolded on an afternoon when D.C. was abuzz about Tuesday’s presidential debate between former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, and not the years-old pandemic decisions of a former governor.