The Ruthless Rise and Lonely Decline of Andrew Cuomo

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York is known as a hard-charging, ruthless political operator. But his power has always come from two sources: legislators’ fear of crossing him and his popularity among the electorate. After recent scandals over bullying allegations, his administration’s handling of nursing home deaths and accusations of sexual harassment, the fear is gone. But does he still have the support of voters?

Transcript

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0:00.0	From New York Times, I'm Michael Borrow. This is a Daily.
0:04.0	Today.
0:10.0	For many people, the story of Andrew Cuomo begins a year ago, with his remarkable rise to
0:19.1	national fame as the Democratic governor leading New York to the worst of the pandemic, and
0:25.4	his accelerating fall in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct.
0:31.5	But my colleague, Shane Goldmacher, has another story of Andrew Cuomo that begins years
0:37.4	earlier, and helps explain how someone so powerful and popular could find himself alone
0:45.5	so fast.
0:55.5	It's Friday, March 19th.
1:03.5	Shane, where does the story of Andrew Cuomo's governorship begin?
1:08.3	In a lot of ways, the story of Andrew Cuomo's governorship begins with the end of another
1:12.5	governorship, which is Elliott Spitzer's.
1:15.4	Elliott Spitzer was elected in 2006 as a high-flying Democrat, seen as potentially a presidential
1:21.8	candidate.
1:22.8	He was the sheriff of Wall Street.
1:24.5	He was very popular among Democratic voters, but less than two years into his term as governor.
1:31.1	Over the course of my public life, I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless
1:37.8	of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct.
1:42.8	He collapsed and scandal over a prostitution ring.
1:46.7	For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor.
1:50.7	And then I hope all of New York will join my prayers for my friend, David Patterson, as
1:57.8	he embarks on his new mission.
	...

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