According to recent polls, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s approval ratings have plummeted since his nursing home scandal was finally acknowledged, both by his administration and the legacy media.
As reported by Morning Consult, who conducted a poll between February 12 and February 21 among 3,203 registered voters in New York, 57 percent approve of Cuomo’s job performance as governor. This represents a drop of 6 percentage points compared to polling data collected between February 2 and February 11, which corresponds with the bombshell report by the New York Post that Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa — Cuomo’s top aide — “privately apologized to Democratic lawmakers for withholding the state’s nursing-home death toll from COVID-19.”
Analyzing further data, it seems that there was no statistically significant change in approval or disapproval between the dates of January 28 — when the New York attorney general released a report on the state’s nursing home COVID-19 response — and February 11 — when DeRosa admitted withholding the state’s nursing home COVID-19 death toll. Indeed, these numbers have been steady since early January, with approximately 63% approving of Cuomo’s job performance and just 33% (until recently) disapproving. Now, 57% approve and 38% disapprove.
This begs the obvious question: how is it possible that 57% — a majority of New York voters — still approve of Cuomo’s performance?
What could New Yorkers possibly approve of?
Could it be that approximately 15,000 nursing home patients died of COVID-19 — the highest death count in the nation when it comes to long-term care facilities — after Cuomo’s administration enforced a mandate on March 25, 2020 which required that COVID-19 positive patients be moved from hospitals to nursing homes?
Could it be that Cuomo then protected these facilities from legal consequences, indicating that his administration understood the potential outcomes of their own policies? Could it be that these protections were hidden as part of budget negotiations?
Could it be that Cuomo and his administration actively hid the truth — with New York state commissioner of the Department of Health, Howard Zucker, refusing to provide the state legislature with data — and lied repeatedly when asked about the impact of COVID-19 policies on nursing homes?
Could it be that, while thousands of his constituents died, Cuomo was more focused on writing a book celebrating his own leadership, speaking at the Democratic National Convention blaming the federal government for his own failures, or appearing almost nightly on CNN to joke about his nostril size?
Could it be that he is under active investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors, now that Biden occupies the White House and focus has shifted away from federal culpability?
Or, could this be unrelated to COVID-19? Could 57% of New Yorkers approve of Cuomo’s reported bullying of staffers, or alleged sexual harassment?
While conservatives cheer Cuomo’s declining approval numbers, we simply must ask what it will take for the remaining 57% of New Yorkers who still approve of Cuomo to change their mind.
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.