It is odd enough that the Edward M. Kennedy Institute would give out an award for “Inspired leadership,” considering the institute’s namesake left a woman to die in a sinking car and shirked responsibility for her death. It is his institute, and they can give whatever award they want, however.
So, it is actually kind of perfect that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) has received such an award, considering his handling of the coronavirus pandemic mimics Kennedy’s treatment of Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy recklessly drove his car over a bridge, crashing into the water below. Kennedy escaped and returned to the party from which he had taken Kopechne, leaving the young woman to die in the vehicle as it sank. Kopechne suffered a horrible death, one that could have been avoided had Kennedy not so callously disregarded the young secretary.
When the coronavirus pandemic was just heating up, Cuomo’s Health Department issued a mandate to state nursing homes requiring them to take coronavirus-positive patients whether they were equipped to handle the virus or not. The mandate gave little to no time for facilities to prepare for potentially incoming patients. As The Daily Wire reported back in March, body bags were sent along with coronavirus patients. For one nursing home in Queens, the mandate resulted in 30 patients dying within the first month after the mandate took effect. Many of the deaths were from residents who weren’t positive for the virus prior to the mandate being issued.
About 6,326 COVID-positive patients were sent to nursing homes between March 25 and May 8, 2020. Back in August, New York was reporting around 6,600 nursing home deaths due to the coronavirus, but as the Associated Press reported at the time, that number was likely far higher.
“That statistic that could add thousands to the state’s official care home death toll of just over 6,600,” the AP reported. “But so far the administration of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has refused to divulge the number, leading to speculation the state is manipulating the figures to make it appear it is doing a better than other states and to make a tragic situation less dire.”
The statistic provided by New York is likely lower due to the fact that the state, unlike other states in the country, doesn’t report those who were transferred from nursing homes to hospitals and died there as nursing home deaths, even though they were only transferred because they were dying.
The “Inspired Leadership” award is the second award Cuomo has received for his handling of the pandemic by left-wing presenters. Last month, Cuomo was awarded an International Emmy for his daily COVID-19 press briefings, The Daily Wire reported.
“The Governor’s 111 daily briefings worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines, and stories of success and failure,” International Academy President and CEO Bruce L. Paisner said in a statement at the time. “People around the world tuned in to find out what was going on, and New York tough became a symbol of the determination to fight back.”
The Emmy committee also conveniently ignored Cuomo’s disastrous nursing home policy.