Disgraced former governor and alleged nipple-ring aficionado Andrew Cuomo announced today that he would be running for the New York City mayoral race on a third-party ticket—his fake “Fight and Deliver” Party—despite having already been beaten like a drum by the young progressive Zohran Mamdani. The Democratic National Committee must now “crack the whip” on Mr. Cuomo. He ought to be rebuked, ostracized, censured, expelled from the Democratic Party, or at least have his invitations to every New York soiree rescinded.
I am not a New Yorker and hate to involve myself in that state’s politics. The Big Apple, to me, is too big, tall, and confusing. Keep me in DC, where the streets are grid-like and predictable, and the spontaneous subway dancing is kept to a minimum. However the city governs itself is none of my concern, except when it births monstrous characters like Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, or Eric Adams.
What the hell is wrong with Mr. Cuomo? Has he not done enough? I understand he may dislike Mr. Mamdani—though he cannot, or will not, pronounce his name properly—but motherfucker, in this house we vote blue. My readers know well I am loath to speak unkindly of other Democrats. But Mr. Cuomo is running on another party’s ticket. He is no friend of ours.
Mr. Cuomo resigned after it was revealed he was a prolific sexual harasser while serving as New York Governor. Specifically, according to the NY Attorney General’s investigation, he asked a twenty-five-year-old aide how she felt about sleeping with older men. He requested another aide play strip poker with him, kissed her, and “touch[ed] [her] on [her] lower back, arms and legs.” He reportedly fondled another state employee’s breasts while she was working in the governor’s mansion.
There were more than a dozen such accounts of Mr. Cuomo groping and soliciting subordinates. His behavior was called “inappropriate, unlawful and abusive” by New York Attorney General Letitia James. He characterized it as “playful” and “good-natured.” This defense was widely roasted online and reduced to a meme: “I’m not perverted, I’m Italian.”
(To be clear: While those words never left Mr. Cuomo’s lips, for the whole of America, it is as if they had.)
At the time, he apologized. Four years later, he blames the women and calls them liars. Classic. See: Revisiting the Sexual Harassment Complaints Against Cuomo
The entire New York Democratic delegation asked that Mr. Cuomo step aside. Preparations were made in Albany for his impeachment. Former president Joe Biden demanded he resign, and suggested prosecution would follow. The creep was kicked to the curb like a dog, and as far as I am concerned, he should still be on that curb.
Not only can Democrats do better, they did do better—Mr. Cuomo did not receive the party’s nomination for mayor. So why does he feel entitled to run on another ticket?
There is a narrative among the progressives that the 2016 Democratic primary was “rigged” and “stolen” from Senator Bernie Sanders by DNC e-mails rigging the superdelegates or something. That story continues into 2020, where they believe the primary was again manipulated by establishment candidates consolidating their support behind Mr. Biden to defeat Mr. Sanders. In 2024, that feeling of helplessness was reified by former Vice President Kamala Harris taking the Democratic nomination without a primary.
I do not hold this view—in 2016, I voted for former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, and in 2020, Senator Elizabeth Warren—but it is so prevalent that anybody who gives a damn about the long-term prospects of the Democratic Party would avoid creating any new grievances. Progressives won this primary. I have spent too many damn hours telling the Brotherhood of Bernard to get over themselves, do the right thing and vote the right way. I will not be embarrassed by center-left also-rans, too.
Mr. Mamdani has described himself as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare, as a progressive Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things I believe in.” Mr. Cuomo, if he wants anything but his own glory, ought to be supporting the young man and building him up instead of undermining him. This means smiling and volunteering to help cut the ribbon at the fabled government-run grocers. Assuredly, a 67-year-old man has more experience than a 33-year-old one—but nobody is entitled to hold power forever, and the thought that elders would rather break convention and seize power than mentor the next generation of leaders ought to revolt anyone who expects to still be living in forty years.
There is only downside to sacrificing the base’s enthusiasm and further undermining trust in the party for the benefit of a serial sexual harasser who was already run out of town.
Mr. Mamdani has what Mr. Cuomo does not: the support of the majority of Democratic primary voters. That entitles him to run on the Democratic ticket. He deserves the same loyalty we expect progressives to give anyone with a D under his name. He ought to be given it happily. If Mr. Cuomo does not retire and cease his flailing, meanwhile, he will deserve the scorn we grant to undermining assholes like Ralph Nader, Jill Stein, or Jimmy Dore.