The thrill is gone.
Some Cuomosexuals are turned off by the former governor’s NYC mayoral bid.
“We have most definitely a moved on from Andrew Cuomo,” said Sandra F. Behan, a retired ad agency executive who leads the political organization “We Decide New York” — once a safe haven for Cuomosexuals, as the swooning gaggle of fans of the former governor was known.
“He has proven through firsthand experience that he is not honorable, he doesn’t know the word empathy or how to relate to people beyond his own ego, self aggrandizing and political ambition,” she said. “It’s disheartening to realize that a person you have supported is nothing more than an artful manipulator and promise breaker.”
It’s a complete 180 for Behan, who once dismissed the allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo as “nothing that an HR professional couldn’t have handled.”
The one-time Cuomo superfan did not attend a “Women for Cuomo” breakfast on Friday where top tickets ran for 10,000 a plate. Cuomo has been the leading candidate in a slew of recent polls.
“I am not a Cuomosexual anymore,” said Brooke Hammerling, who once proudly described herself as such on X. “I think his handling of the nursing home situation and COVID was a travesty.”
Talia Reese, a comedian living in Long Island, said she was off the train too.
“Ok Yikes. I think we all got over being Cuomosexuals when he killed all the grandmas during Covid. That’s when I went Trans Cuomo,” she quipped.
Others are taking a wait and see approach.
We Decide New York member Robin Gittelman said Cuomo was a “very competent governor” during the pandemic and dismissed most of the sexual misconduct allegations — but was noncommittal about him as mayor.
“I have to see who he’s running against,” she said. “He’s got to earn it.”
Cuomo, who announced his entry into the crowded Democratic primary last Saturday, rode high during his initial handing of the pandemic and was seriously mentioned as a 2020 presidential candidate. But he came crashing back to Earth amid allegations of mishandling the state’s pandemic response.
On March 25, 2020, his administration issued its now infamous directive forcing nursing homes take in COVID-19 patients who were discharged from hospitals, which some experts said contributed to thousands of deaths of elderly and vulnerable nursing-home residents.
He then faced a cascade of allegations of sexual misconduct from 12 women — which ultimately forced him to resign from office in disgrace in August 2021. Many of the most ardent Cuomosexuals stuck with him until the bitter end.
“The Department of Justice Inspector General, the state attorney general and even the Hochul administration’s outside review all found that New York was following federal guidance, retrospective federal data actually found that New York [per capita] had fewer COVID Nursing home deaths than two thirds of all other states in 2020,” said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi of the covid charges.
On sexual harassment allegations, he added, “From Day One he said he never harassed anyone and three years, five district attorney reviews that resulted in zero cases and civil cases that were either dropped or are dying on the vine due to a mountain of exculpatory evidence uncovered during discovery process bares that all out. The city is in crisis and everybody knows that Andrew Cuomo has the experience, the record and the skill to help save it.”
