Rudy Giuliani’s Son Andrew To Challenge Cuomo In Bid For Governor of NY

Andrew Giuliani governor

On Tuesday, Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, announced he will run for governor of New York against Andrew Cuomo in 2022.

His bid for the Governor’s mansion sets up a potential battle between two of New York’s most powerful political families. 

Giuliani, who served as a special assistant to former president Donald Trump, has been toying with the idea for a while. During an interview with the Washington Examiner last month, Giuliani stated that he was “heavily considering” a run for governor.

Giuliani also revealed that he had spoken to Trump about a potential gubernatorial run. He said they talked about New York politics, ran some numbers, and also talked about where Giuliani thought he might be able to make some inroads with New Yorkers as a candidate.

In another interview with the New York Post, Giuliani declared, “I’m a politician out of the womb. It’s in my DNA.” 

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Possible Beginning Of The End For Andrew Cuomo

Current Gov. Andrew Cuomo may be too busy right now fighting his own battles to worry about 2022. Cuomo is embroiled in several scandals that may put any re-election bid in jeopardy.

Cuomo came under fire beginning in February, when it was revealed that state health officials had directed nursing homes to accept residents who were recovering from COVID. An aide to Cuomo admitted to hiding nursing home death tolls from state legislators.

Melissa DeRosa was heard on conference call saying,  “And basically, we froze, because then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what [numbers] we were going to give to the Department of Justice or what we give to you guys … was going to be used against us. We weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation.”

As of March 3, 2021, there have been 13,625 nursing home COVID deaths in New York. 

Prior to the investigation into New York’s nursing home deaths, Cuomo was lauded as a rock star of sorts by the media for his handling of COVID-19 in New York, even winning an Emmy award for his daily COVID briefings.

Cuomo decided to take a victory lap, and wrote a book about his handling of the pandemic in the Empire State. A report from NBC4 New York states that according to tax returns, Cuomo made $5.1 million over three years from the book deal.

The New York Comtroller has asked the New York State Attorney General’s office to look into whether Cuomo used public funds of any kind in the development of the book. 

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Sexual Harassment Claims Against Cuomo

In the midst of the nursing home scandal, Cuomo is also dealing with at least 6-7 sexual harassment claims by several women. The accusations began in December when former aide Lindsey Boylan accused Cuomo of kissing her against her will.

In February, a second woman claimed that Cuomo sexually harassed her and asked questions about her sex life. As calls for Cuomo to resign became louder from state Democrat legislators, Karen Hinton, a former press aide came forward with claims that Cuomo had behaved inappropriately. 

Cuomo has denied all of the allegations, and issued a statement that said, “I never intended to offend anyone or cause any harm.”

He also said that some of his comments “may have been insensitive or too personal” and “have been misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation.”

“To be clear I never inappropriately touched anybody and I never propositioned anybody and I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to,” he said.

The investigation is ongoing and Cuomo says he has no intention of resigning.

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Cuomo Against The Giuliani Legacy

Andrew Giuliani’s announcement timing is a kind of double-edged sword.

The home and office of his father, Rudy Giuliani, who was also the personal attorney for Donald Trump, was raided several weeks ago regarding dealings he had in Ukraine. 

But Rudy Giuliani was one of the most popular mayors of the Big Apple in recent times.

He reduced violent crime in the city by 56% during his two terms as mayor.

During and after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Giuliani’s leadership has been credited by many as a key element for leading New York City out of the dark days after the attacks. 

Also on the Republican side, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) has also announced he will run for governor. 

 

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