New York Governor Andrew Cuomo defended himself against accusations that his policies forced patients testing positive for COVID-19 into nursing homes, saying “it never happened.” Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean, however, was not having any of it.
Cuomo made the startling statement in an interview with Finger Lakes Daily News.
In fact, the Democrat governor, whose state has seen 32,757 deaths from the virus thus far, more than double the next closest state, insisted his state had “flattened the curve effectively.”
Regarding the nursing home scandal, Cuomo suggested his policies were not to blame.
“It just never happened in New York, where we needed to say to a nursing home, ‘We need you to take this person even though they’re COVID positive,'” he said. “It never happened.”
The @HealthNYGov admitted that over 6,000 Covid positive patients were sent to nursing homes thanks to the governor’s executive order that was in place for 46 days straight. Yesterday @NYGovCuomo denied it ever happened. It truly still feels like we’re living in a nightmare.
— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) October 1, 2020
RELATED: Fox News’ Janice Dean Taunts Cuomo Over Trump Meltdown – Is It Because The DOJ Is Investigating You?
Cuomo Slammed For Saying Nursing Home Scandal Never Happened
Fox News contributor and meteorologist Janice Dean, whose husband’s parents were both victims of COVID-19, and in whom nursing homes played a part, lambasted Cuomo as a “liar.”
The [New York State Department of Health] admitted that over 6,000 COVID positive patients were sent to nursing homes thanks to the governor’s executive order that was in place for 46 days straight,” she charged.
“Yesterday [Cuomo] denied it ever happened,” Dean added. “It truly still feels like we’re living in a nightmare.”
The Fox News personality still has an op-ed column posted to her Twitter feed which accuses Cuomo of being responsible for her in-laws succumbing to the pandemic.
“My family didn’t have to die,” she wrote.
Cuomo, in the interview with the Finger Lakes Daily News, said he rests easy at night knowing that he saved lives in New York.
“I put my head on the pillow at night saying I saved lives, that’s how I sleep at night,” he said.
Dean replied on her feed saying, “He is despicable.”
This is probably one of the most egregious and obvious lies I’ve ever heard come out of a politician’s mouth.
And that is freaking saying something. https://t.co/nIRqA1s9X8
— Rusty Weiss ?? (@rustyweiss74) October 1, 2020
RELATED: Trump Smacks Cuomo Over Nursing Home Scandal: Thousands Died Because Of NY’s Governor
The Truth Behind the Nursing Home Scandal
In late August, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they had requested information from New York regarding pandemic-related orders that might have led to the deaths of thousands of seniors in nursing homes.
The DOJ “requested COVID-19 data from the governors of states that issued orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents,” a statement read.
In it, they reference a March 25th executive order which forced nursing homes to take on patients that had tested positive for coronavirus and prohibited facilities from requiring incoming patients “to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”
Cuomo refused to reverse that directive for several weeks while well over 6,600 senior citizens – perhaps many more as you can see below – fell victim to the virus.
The CDC unfortunately made it optional for nursing homes to report COVID deaths in March, April and early May, when NY’s pandemic was at its worst.
But some homes did the right thing — and often gave numbers strikingly higher than reported by NYS DOH. https://t.co/6WSYZno25L pic.twitter.com/zIQOPExDLH
— Bill Hammond (@NYHammond) September 8, 2020
Cuomo has defended his actions and pointed the finger of blame at several entities, including:
- Reporters at the New York Post.
- Republicans.
- President Trump (something even Politifact said was a lie).
In Politifact’s check, even the assertion that he didn’t force the issue by telling nursing homes that they “need to take” people is disputed.
Cuomo’s blame game on President Trump was rated “mostly false,” arguing that the CDC didn’t force nursing homes’ hands.
By contrast, however, they write that Cuomo left them feeling “they had no choice but to accept these patients.”
Thank you @tedcruz for literally being the only person that has EVER brought this up to @ChrisCuomo after all the unethical interviews he did with his brother @NYGovCuomo pic.twitter.com/m1toWMKwNT
— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) October 1, 2020
Ted Cruz Gets Into It With Chris Cuomo In Fiery Interview
Dean shared a clip of an exchange between Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, the brother of Governor Cuomo.
Chris has allowed Andrew on his show – a supposed straight-news network show – and allowed the New York Democrat to laugh, joke, and gloat about his supposedly terrific response to the pandemic.
Cruz brought up the scandal on Cuomo’s show.
“Let me say something,” Cruz said. “There is something disgusting that Democrats are doing, that Joe Biden does, and that you do, which is you try to blame the people who’ve lost their lives on your political enemies.
“That’s just not right,” he continued. “It’s not right at all and it’s particularly not right, Chris, when your brother has presided over the state with the highest death rate in the country.”
CRUZ: “Was it a mistake when your brother implemented a policy that nursing homes had to accept covid positive patients?”
CUOMO: “My brother was the first to say that there was a learning curve, mistakes were made, and they changed things as soon as they could.” pic.twitter.com/Z7MJfz2yqh
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 1, 2020
“My brother was the first one to say that there was a learning curve and that mistakes were made and they changed things as soon as they could,” defended the younger Cuomo.
“Then don’t be a hypocrite about it,” Cruz shot back. “Does it trouble you at all that New York and New Jersey had the highest death rates?”
The interview eventually descended into Cuomo asserting that Cruz is “afraid” of President Trump.
“You think he’ll smack you down at home?” he asked.
The President has also attacked New York’s governor for his handling of the nursing home scandal.
“Thousands of people in New York died because of poor management by the governor,” Trump claimed. “And it’s a very sad thing to see and very sad to watch and very sad to look at those statistics.”
