Whether Andrew Cuomo resigns or not, we’re going to be fine

| 2:35 pm EST March 12, 2021
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo did an expert job of leading America through the worst of the pandemic, at a time when there was no presidential leadership to speak of. Cuomo has since been accused of inappropriate behavior by several women, and now he’s seemingly hanging onto his job by a thread.

There are differing opinions – and impassioned ones at that – as to whether Cuomo should survive this. Robert Harrington has made a well reasoned argument for why Cuomo should resign immediately. I’m still more inclined to wait for the state investigation report (provided it arrives very promptly), even though we largely already know what it’s going to say – if only to avoid the kind of hard feelings that still linger after Al Franken was forced to resign before the investigation into his behavior was complete.

But the reality is that no one at Palmer Report, and frankly none of you reading this, have much control over whether Cuomo stays or goes. As usually ends up being the case in these scenarios, the mainstream media holds the cards. If they continue heavily covering the Cuomo scandal, he’ll likely be forced out. If the mainstream media gets distracted by some other story, Cuomo might survive (as happened with Ralph Northam in a different kind of scandal). Either way, I’m here to tell you that we’re going to be fine.

There are a lot of theories on social media that Trump and the Republicans are trying to force Cuomo out because if he’s replaced by a Republican Governor, Trump can then be pardoned on state crimes in New York. But as I’ve explained, if Cuomo is ousted, he’d be replaced by a fellow Democrat for the rest of his term, and it wouldn’t increase the odds of a Republican becoming Governor in the next election.

There are also conspiracy theories on social media about how Trump and the GOP are somehow paying these women to come forward against Cuomo so that they can get rid of him. But there is absolutely no evidence of this kind of thing, and we should forcefully reject these kinds of baseless conspiracy theories.

There is also a lot of buzz about the fact that Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is announcing his retirement at the same time New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is on the verge of being forced out. But in this instance, a coincidence really is just a coincidence. Vance’s retirement has been in the works for some time, and has nothing to do with Cuomo. Given the political demographics of Manhattan, Vance will almost certainly be replaced by a Democrat in the next election, and Trump will continue to be prosecuted in New York.

The bottom line is that you’re each welcome to your own opinion about Andrew Cuomo, whether you think he should resign now, or you think we should wait for the report, or whether you think he’s being treated unfairly. That kind of debate is healthy. But none of it changes the fact that whether Cuomo resigns or not, we’ll be fine. His ouster won’t magically result in a Republican Governor, or magically result in Trump getting away with it all. Simply put, nothing works that way.