As New York suffers from the world’s worst outbreak of COVID-19, Gov. Cuomo has successfully manipulated the media into calling him a hero.

By Konrad Strzalka

“She tried to do her job. And it killed her.”

These were the words Dr. Philip C. Breen said to the New York Times in their obituary of his daughter, Dr. Lorna M. Breen. 

Ms. Breen died by suicide on April 26, 2020, at the age of 49. A medical director of the emergency department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, Breen was overwhelmed by the scenes she saw on a daily basis as COVID-19 took its toll on her workplace and on her city. She did not have a history of mental illness.

According to the Center for Disease Control, as of May 10, 2020, New York state had more than 335,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with over 21,000 deaths.

Many have made excuses for the scale of the outbreak. After all, New York City is the most populated city in the United States and by far the most densely populated for a city its size.

However, Seoul and Hong Kong both have similar populations and population densities to New York City, and are both geographically located much closer to the source of the pandemic. As of May 10, 2020, the combined death toll of these two cities was six.

So who’s to blame for the severity of the outbreak in New York?

Mayor Bill de Blasio has certainly bungled the response, but Governor Andrew Cuomo has also mismanaged the crisis.

Cuomo, much like the Trump administration, did not take the virus seriously as it first started spreading. 

New York reported its first case on March 1st via an international traveler, and by March 6th, there was already a documented super-spreader event. However, on that same day, Cuomo still compared the virus to the seasonal flu in a tweet.

By the time Cuomo ordered non-essential workers to stay home and banned outdoor group activities on March 20th, there were already over 7,000 cases across the state, with 46 deaths. 

Compare this to Illinois, where Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a lockdown on that same day, with less than 600 cases.

Better yet, compare it to Washington, where Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation on February 29th, when the state had just 18 cases. 

Both of these states have avoided seeing outbreaks at the level of New York.

Furthermore, Cuomo’s austerity policies have made it harder for the citizens of New York to handle the crisis. 

According to the Daily Beast, Cuomo had already admitted that an outbreak was inevitable in his state on February 4th.  However, he spent the rest of that month working on promoting out-of-state winter sports tourism, travelling to different states to learn about cannabis policy, and most damningly, promoting cuts to Medicaid.

Last month, Cuomo was still negotiating with the legislature to take $2.5 billion a year out of the Medicaid program. Not only would these cuts hurt the New Yorkers who depend on Medicaid, but they would actually make the state ineligible for $6.7 billion in emergency federal assistance, according to the Huffington Post, as states are required to preserve existing program standards.

So why is Cuomo being treated like a hero?

Simply put, he’s a master showman who has more charisma, charm, and public relations skills than other politicians in the spotlight, such as President Trump.

From 9/11 to Hurricane Sandy, Cuomo has been known for pointing fingers, as well as for his extravagant photo shoots standing in flooded subway tunnels and roads with downed trees. 

His constant TV appearances in the past two months have made him out to be a confident leader and a hero, and have cast stark opposition to the failings of the Trump administration.

Clearly, his publicity stunts have worked. 

Celebrity figures from Trevor Noah to Ellen DeGeneres have heaped praise on the governor, and the term ‘Cuomosexual’ has entered the public vernacular. 

An April 3rd Club for Growth poll showed that Democrats favor Cuomo replacing Biden at the top of the ticket by a 12-point margin, whereas an April 2nd Rasmussen poll found the two tied.

It is clear that although Cuomo botched the coronavirus response in New York, he has successfully manipulated the media and the public into being blinded to the reality of the situation.

It’s not all his fault though.

The United States as a nation has an attitude of uniting behind politicians during tough times, no matter how badly they are handling the response, from the sky-high approval ratings President Bush saw in the aftermath of 9/11 and his Middle East invasions, to recent polling showing the pandemic might help President Trump win re-election.

If the pandemic made Trump a “wartime president,” it has certainly made Cuomo a “wartime governor,” and no traditional American would dare go against their leaders in a time of war.

Despite his shortcomings, it is understandable why some look to Cuomo for guidance in these times, as he has probably still done a better job than the federal government.

But we don’t need to look at politicians as heroes. The real heroes of this situation have been the doctors and nurses sacrificing their lives to treat COVID-19 patients.  The real heroes have been the workers keeping essential services going while many of us have the privilege of working and studying from home.

There is no single politician who can end this pandemic.

It is we who must continue social distancing, staying home as much as possible, and wearing masks and gloves when we do venture outside.

As Americans, we are in this together and we will overcome this together.