Democrats Kicked Their Predatory Bully to the Curb. Why Won't Republicans?

Little noticed in the discussion of Tuesday’s shocking New York City primary results is the decision by Democratic voters to reject a sexual predator in favor of someone who, as far as we know, does not have a history of treating anyone who dares to criticize him as an enemy to be destroyed.

Sound familiar? In style and in substance, Andrew Cuomo bears a striking resemblance to Donald Trump. Like Trump, he has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women. According to Politico, a Department of Justice report found that “Cuomo ‘repeatedly subjected’ women in his office to non-consensual sexual contact, ogling and gender-based nicknames. Top Cuomo staff ‘were aware of the conduct and retaliated against four of the women he harassed.’”

Like Trump, Cuomo severely mishandled the COVID pandemic, with a report finding that he undercounted nursing home deaths in his state. Like Trump, he used taxpayer dollars to go after his perceived enemies, including in one instance where he subpoenaed the gynecological and therapy records of a former aide who accused him of sexual harassment. He leaked the personnel files of another accuser, told a sitting Assemblymember that, “I can destroy you” for raising questions about his handling of the pandemic and used his powers to dismantle, undermine, and legally challenge ethics commissions, at one point successfully halting a major ethics investigation.

Democratic voters rejected all that. They overwhelmingly repudiated Cuomo’s comeback in the New York City mayor’s race, which was his pathway to redemption and an effort to regain power in order to punish his enemies. Though much of the Democratic establishment felt compelled to help him claw his way to Gracie Mansion, most New Yorkers had enough of the drama, the brutality, and the scandals. At the end, Cuomo was blown out by two-term Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, who was polling at no more than 2% as recently as February.

Contrast that with how Republican voters treat their problematic politicians. Rather than kicking an adjudicated sexual assailant to the curb, they returned him to the White House. Rather than punishing him for mishandling the COVID pandemic, they returned him to the White House. Rather than standing up to a bully, they returned him to the White House.

It would take someone with a degree in psychiatry to explain why the same characteristics that revolt Democrats appeal to Republicans. Why do Republicans not find the sexual misconduct allegations that more than two dozen women lodged against Trump disqualifying, whereas Democrats largely believe Cuomo’s accusers? (Here, rank and file Democrats have behaved much more responsibly than their leaders, who consider these credible allegations nothing more than a nuisance.) Why do Republicans find Trump’s decision to eviscerate his critics one of his most attractive qualities, whereas Democrats found Cuomo’s behavior unacceptable? Why do Republicans absolve Trump of the same policy failures for which Democrats punished Cuomo?

No one in the Democratic Party asked for Cuomo’s resurrection after he was kicked out of office four years earlier. It boggles the mind why Republicans voted for Trump’s four years after he was.

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Further Reading:

Politico: DOJ says Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed 13 women

The Washington Post: Inside Cuomo’s ‘improper and retaliatory’ campaign to fight sexual harassment allegations

New York State Office of the Attorney General Letitia James: Nursing Home Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

New York Post: Cuomo demands $8.6M payback from sexual harassment accuser Trooper 1, calls her lawsuit ‘wholly unreliable’

Bloomberg: New Yorkers Are Paying Over $60 Million for Andrew Cuomo’s Legal Fights

Times-Union: Employee personnel file protection bill in response to Cuomo claims moves forward

CNN: Cuomo said ‘he can destroy me’: NY assemblyman alleges governor threatened him over nursing homes scandal

Times Union: NY ethics panel ruled constitutional in split decision in Cuomo case

Axios: Stacey Williams is 27th woman to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct