Andrew Cuomo on Thursday would not rule out a bid to oust Gov. Kathy Hochul — telling reporters he was “not going anywhere” during his second public appearance since resigning in disgrace last summer.
Asked after his speech at a Bronx church if he would run against Hochul, the ex-governor delivered a meandering response while leaving the door open on a longshot comeback attempt. He moaned about how he went through “a very difficult year,” while noting his brother Chris Cuomo was fired from his job at CNN, before saying, “I am more committed to fighting and fighting hard to do the right thing, so government works.”
“I am not going anywhere,” he added, implying a campaign announcement could be in the offing. “I am going to continue to fight the good fight.”
The answer on a potential run for office came after he blasted fellow members of the Democratic Party for their “radical” positions and charged they perpetuate “cancel culture” at a Bronx church where he spoke the invitation of the controversial ex-councilman Ruben Diaz Sr.
The speech was Cuomo’s latest attempt to spin his decision to step down under threat of impeachment amid several scandals — including his documented sexual harassment of 11 women, misuse of government resources to write his $5 million pandemic memoir and misleading the public about COVID-related deaths in nursing homes — as his being a victim of “cancel culture.”
Pressed after his remarks if he will launch a bid to reclaim his old post in a primary challenge of Hochul — Cuomo’s lieutenant governor who took over after he resigned, becoming the state’s first woman chief executive — Cuomo replied, “I am open to all options.”
“Look, I have been through a very difficult year, and did a lot of soul-searching. I have been blessed. I have three very beautiful daughters and a very beautiful family. I served as your governor and I am so proud of the way I did it,” he told reporters.
“I have a lot of options. I am open to all of them,” he said, before joking, “I am hoping for an offer from the New York Jets. I still think I could play wide receiver.
“I am open to all options and I am going to leave it at that.”
Cuomo also said he was open to creating his own political party to run, rather than attempting to secure the Democratic Party’s spot on the November ballot.
“I’ve done it before,” the lifelong Democrat claimed, in reference to his 2014 invention of the “Women’s Equality Party.
“My father’s done it before,” he added, apparently referencing Mario Cuomo’s unsuccessful 1977 mayoral bid while running in the general election on the Liberal Party’s line after losing the Democratic primary earlier that year.
Earlier, Cuomo labeled himself a “concerned New Yorker” and blasted “extremist” fellow members of the Democratic Party for their “radical” positions, charging they perpetuate “cancel culture.”
“There is no doubt that there is no place where the tail is wagging the dog. One manifestation of extremism is the so-called cancel culture,” Cuomo groused.
“Cancel culture says if you don’t agree with me and my point of view, then you should be canceled. … It’s a social death penalty.”
During his address, Cuomo used the word “cancel” 19 times — a refrain he used earlier during his first public appearance since his Aug. 10 resignation announcement — and at one point went as far as to complain that “Cancel culture is like modern-day stonings.”
Too many politicians, Cuomo griped, act as “weathervanes” who “turn with the prevailing wind.”
“The noisy Democrats blow hard. You have to blow back,” Cuomo declared of his own political party.
Cuomo during his remarks repeatedly assumed a moderate posture, characterizing the “Defund the police” position “elitist” amid an “alarming” crime increase in the five boroughs.
He also alternated between attempting to claim credit for bail reform as a needed corrective to an unfair criminal justice system that left New Yorkers in jail for years awaiting trial — and slamming it as a key contributor to New York City’s recent surge in homicides.
“Extremists refuse to have a reasonable conversation,” he said, noting that he “proudly supported” bail reform in 2019 but that “more changes are necessary” after the mid-2020 rollback because “crime is taking over the city.”
The controversial legislation was initially included in Cuomo’s 2019 budget and, amid a torrent of unflattering headlines over the controversial measure, it was subsequently amended in July 2020.
The former governor predicted that if the bail reform measures were not included in the budget, due by April 1, the legislation would not get passed at all in 2022. Meanwhile, The Post reported exclusively Thursday that Hochul plans to include a bail reform fix in her revised budget proposal.
On public safety, Cuomo praised Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain, while saying the mayor needs help from state lawmakers to keep the five boroughs safe.
“He was a cop. He understands it,” Cuomo said. “The bad news is he can’t do it on his own.”
Cuomo’s re-emergence does not signal Empire State Democrats warming to him after six months out of the public eye.
The vocally anti-gay Diaz Sr. has been a pariah to many Democrats since his days on the City Council as well as during his state Senate tenure — when he notoriously withheld support from Democratic leadership in 2010 as a major player in Albany’s famed “coup.”
Cuomo — in 2019, before his political career went up in smoke — ripped Diaz’s “disrespectful” comments when the then-councilman said he was treated as an outsider by fellow lawmakers on the council because it was “controlled by the homosexual community.”
On Thursday morning, Diaz heaped praise on Cuomo — calling him a “servant of the people” and thanking the former governor for adding Metro-North stations in the Bronx, renovating Orchard Beach and helping Puerto Ricans.
“I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Governor Cuomo for what you have done, for what you have done for my brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico,” he said.
The public appearance comes as Cuomo has taken steps to rehabilitate his tarnished image amid speculation that he’s eyeing a bid against Hochul.
Cuomo resigned in disgrace last summer after state Attorney General Letitia James released a report that concluded he broke multiple state and federal laws by harassing 11 women, including seven current or former staffers. Cuomo has denied the allegations.
Five district attorneys have opted not to bring criminal charges against the former governor, and four of the five had characterized his accusers as credible.
The scandal-scarred ex-pol made a similar plea earlier this month at a Brooklyn church, where he blamed his ignominious downfall on “cancel culture” and “political sharks” during a 25-minute gripe session.
While he’s taken steps toward a run for office with campaign-style advertisements and a pair of public appearances, longtime Cuomo confidantes told The Post ahead of Cuomo’s Thursday appearance they have not been asked to get involved in a comeback campaign.
“I believe people are blowing smoke. I am personally unaware of any movement to run or mount a campaign,” said one longtime associate on Wednesday.
Another Cuomo associate said “it’s a hard argument” that Cuomo running for governor “makes any sense.”
The deadline to file petitions to get on the ballot for the Democratic primary is April 7, and Cuomo’s longtime pollster, Jeff Pollock, and campaign lawyer Steve Russo of Greenberg & Traurig are now working for Hochul.
The source predicted Cuomo won’t opt to run as an independent because that would mean he would potentially play spoiler and help elect a Republican chief executive.
“You can’t win as an independent. Does he want to be responsible for electing Lee Zeldin?” said the source, referring to the likely GOP nominee in November’s general election. “You have to live with that for the rest of your life.”
One city lawmaker had doubts Cuomo’s gubernatorial campaign would be successful if he decides to launch one.
“If I was Gov. Hochul, I would be a little nervous, but absent his patronage mill and brazen political threats, he’s just another guy from Queens with beer muscles,” said City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island). “The voters will decide whether Hochul is a bad governor, but the people already know Cuomo is a bad person.”
Despite the numerous obstacles standing in the way of a comeback bid, Cuomo has started releasing TV ads attacking James — and on Monday unveiled a new commercial where he touted his accomplishments, including serving as New York’s chief executive throughout the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis.
The 30-second spot titled “The Record,” claimed Cuomo had successfully “led” the country during the pandemic’s peak, when it was later revealed he spent a good portion of that time promoting himself and his then-CNN host brother, Chris; writing a memoir about it mid-pandemic that may have used government resources; and hiding the true death toll of senior citizens in nursing homes from the virus.
Most surveys have shown there’s little appetite in the Empire State for a Cuomo comeback.
A poll released last month showed a majority of voters believe he is a serial sexual harasser. Fifty-eight percent of New York voters believe Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women while serving as governor, while just 21 percent of respondents believe he was innocent, according to the Siena College survey.
And just 33 percent of New York voters viewed Cuomo favorably compared to 60 percent who gave him a thumbs down, according to a poll released in October.
In another survey, Hochul held a commanding lead over her disgraced predecessor and other contenders in a hypothetical four-way Democratic primary race. In the Marist survey, also released in October, Cuomo earned just 19 percent to Hochul’s 36 percent.
But a recent poll, conducted by Emerson College and The Hill, shows Cuomo would trail Hochul by just 4 points in a primary — a finding Cuomo on Thursday called “gratifying.”
“The poll results, I found gratifying, but I’ve never lived by the polls,” he told reporters at the Bronx church. “I think when people get the facts about what happened, because the facts were obvious, it was all political.”
The disgraced Democrat’s latest appearance also comes two days after a damning state comptroller audit was released. The report found the state Health Department under Cuomo intentionally “misled the public” about the number of nursing home deaths from COVID-19 to help boost Cuomo’s reputation.
Specifically, auditors discovered that DOH officials undercounted the death toll by at least 4,100 residents and at times by more than 50 percent.
