NEW YORK (WBEN) — A new report by the Washington Post claims Gov. Andrew Cuomo was obsessed with how the public viewed him in the early days of the pandemic and constantly looked to one-up New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Early in the pandemic, Cuomo repeatedly said "forget the politics" and even put the phrase on a celebratory poster he designed.
But behind the scenes, Cuomo was apparently going out of his way to gauge how the public was receiving him and his decisions.
On April 14, 2020, Cuomo had just finished up one of his daily briefings, insisting his sole motivation was saving lives, not playing politics.
But just a few hours later, the Post revealed an aide was asked to run some new poll questions by the governor that asked voters about school and business reopenings, where medical equipment should get sent and how Cuomo compared to other politicians, including then-President Donald Trump and de Blasio.
The mayor was a frequent target, with the Post also detailing Cuomo's desire to preempt announcements from de Blasio with his own statements. That includes one instance where state staff was quickly put to work arranging an antibody testing program just before de Blasio was set to announce his own initiative.
Some City Hall officials say they stopped giving Cuomo's office advanced notice on their plans.
A spokesman for the mayor tells the Post Cuomo's obsession with optics has consistently gotten in the way of fighting the pandemic.
A Cuomo spokesperson stresses understanding public opinion was an important part of managing the crisis.
