On Tuesday, August 3, US President Joe Biden announced that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo should step down. To understand the whole sensational essence of this statement, it should be borne in mind that Andrew Cuomo is, firstly, Biden's fellow party member, that is, a devout democrat, and secondly, a staunch opponent of Donald Trump, who once said that he would “hit” Trump for insulting him brother and his entire Italian family, thirdly, the recent hero of the fight against coronavirus, glorified by CNN and other liberal media.
It can be added that Cuomo is known in the state of New York as a staunch fighter for same-sex marriage, for the legalization of marijuana, against the carrying of weapons - in general, the whole classic liberal set. With his connivance, the BLM has turned New York into one of the most dangerous white cities in the country. In addition, during the pre-election struggle for the White House, Cuomo was even considered for some time as a possible head of the Ministry of Justice in the Biden administration, that is, he was clearly not an accidental person in the camp of the current president. And this pillar of liberalism suddenly received a black mark from Sleepy Joe. In a popular US expression, Biden "threw Cuomo under the bus."
Cuomo certainly has enough sins. The most, perhaps, the biggest and most unforgivable is the situation with nursing homes during the first wave of coronavirus. Then Cuomo made several decisions that turned out to be fatal for the elderly residents of the state. They were forbidden to leave the territory of nursing homes under the pretext of self-isolation. Relatives (and many residents of such shelters have relatives - it's just that for the American mentality there is nothing shameful in handing over their mom or dad, not to mention grandparents, to a nursing home) were forbidden to take them from there. Most importantly, on March 25, 2020, Cuomo issued an order that all nursing homes in the state were to accept covid-sick elderly people "who were medically stable." This is how the virus entered the elderly sheltersand their inhabitants began to die out en masse, not least because ordinary doctors working in shelters who did not have special training and equipment (including mechanical ventilation) had to treat them. And they died out not in dozens, but at least in hundreds. To avoid a scandal, the state health department has underreported the state's nursing home mortality data by 50%. And Cuomo, with the help of his brother working for CNN, began to be portrayed as the hero who defeated COVID-19 in New York.not without the help of his brother working for CNN, he began to be portrayed as the hero who defeated COVID-19 in New York.not without the help of his brother working for CNN, he began to be portrayed as the hero who defeated COVID-19 in New York.
Donald Trump, who was then still the president of the United States, tried to initiate an investigation into Cuomo's activities in relation to nursing homes, but the Department of Justice "studied" alarms from New York and other states, led by Democrats, until the presidency passed to Biden.
And then he completely curtailed this investigation, despite the indignation of the Republicans.
But it is curious that Cuomo "flew in" not at all for the cold-blooded murder of elderly New Yorkers - which would be fair - but for ordinary sexual harassment.
The "weapon" against Cuomo was a 168-page report from the state's attorney general's office, which contains testimony from 11 women who accused the governor of sexual harassment.
Just in case, we need to clarify: the harassment was rather modest. For example, one woman who worked for the governor's security service told investigators that Cuomo "ran his hand or fingers over her stomach and back, kissed her cheek and asked why she was not wearing a dress." Another woman, an employee of an energy company, stated that Cuomo "touched her chest at the event" and "ran his hand between her shoulder and chest." Let's face it: against the background of the current owner of the White House, who strives to snuggle up to the lady who has turned up under his arm and kiss her on the ear or cheek, Cuomo does not look like a sexual terrorist. However, at present, even such accusations are enough for the eyes to lose his post and ruin a career. It is no coincidence that most articles about the future of the New York governor include the word “collapse”.
Here, of course, attention is drawn to the very fact that a prominent democrat was accused of a crime, which earlier, according to the code that was tacitly adopted in the liberal media, only Republicans were capable of. After all, only Trumpists and other rude male chauvinistic pigs can offend and persecute women - because they do not respect their gender identity. A democrat, a sublime, empathic and gentle being, will never say anything inappropriate to either a woman or a representative of the LGBT community - this is well known.
There must be some very serious reason for the top of the Democratic Party to decide to sacrifice one of its loyal fighters, moreover from the elite "first hundred".
And this reason is not Cuomo's mediocre leadership of antiquated events in his state, otherwise the Department of Justice would not have closed the investigation into this case right before the publication of the report on the governor's sexual abuse.
Presumably, they decided to sacrifice Cuomo in order to save Joe Biden's rapidly falling ratings.
In a recent Quinnipiac poll, American approval of Biden's work as a whole has dropped from 49% to 46%.
In addition, 48% of Americans disapprove of the new president's economic policies.
But the worst is the situation with the assessment of the president's actions to combat the pandemic: it collapsed by as much as 12%, from 65% in May to 53% in early August.
And this despite the fact that the entire US propaganda machine works for the elderly, talking, forgetting where he is, the president.
In such situations, political consultants advise to find a figure whose symbolic reprisal can bring new points to the losing leader.
But the main target of all liberal media - Donald Trump - after an enchanting performance in Florida, sits quietly and does not give rise to new attacks.
But Cuomo, who inappropriately became famous (mainly thanks to his brother CNN) as an effective fighter against coronavirus, is quite suitable for the role of a sacred victim.
Moreover, in the Democratic Party itself, the attitude towards him is ambiguous: the extreme left, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her fighting friends Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, have disliked Cuomo since the time of the scandal with nursing homes.
That is why Biden, albeit with reservations ("I understand that the state legislature can make a decision on impeachment ... I have not read all this data"), and decided to throw Cuomo under the wheels of a bus. But what if Cuomo turns out to be a tougher fighter than expected and doesn't agree to retire?
So far, everything suggests that this will be the case. The governor disputes the charges of 11 angry women and states that "the facts are very different from what is depicted (in the report of the attorney general)", that he "never touched anyone inappropriately or committed inappropriate sexual harassment." Cuomo explained the "misunderstandings" with the employees "by the difference of cultural traditions" - they say, he is from a family of Italian immigrants, and in Italy it is generally customary for them to stroke and pat the interlocutor on different parts of the body. And he called the investigation "political and biased." That is, Cuomo is going to fight to the end.
In this case, the state legislature can bring charges against Cuomo and demand his impeachment (even before completing its own investigation). This charge must be supported by a simple majority (76 out of 150). In California, that would have been enough to remove the governor from office. But since the laws of New York State are quite specific, if a majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly vote for Cuomo's guilt, the case will go to the Impeachment Court. This court consists of state senators and seven justices of the State Supreme Court (a total of 63 people). As with the impeachment of the president, a two-thirds majority of the members of the court is required for the impeachment to take place.
All of this makes the hypothetical impeachment of the New York governor not an easy task.
Considering the fact that such a convinced Trumpist and Republican as the former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani unexpectedly spoke in support of Cuomo (he said that Cuomo may be guilty, but the question of guilt “in this country is still being decided by the court »), - and completely non-trivial.
But if Cuomo passes the impeachment test and leaves him retaining the post of governor of New York, the current owner of the White House will receive a very serious and very embittered enemy.
That on the eve of the midterm congressional elections in 2022 could be a very unpleasant surprise for the Democratic Party and personally for Biden.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.