A former aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is speaking out, claiming that Cuomo presides over a "toxic" work environment -- especially for women -- and that many of her former colleagues who agree are "deathly afraid" to say so in public. Lindsey Boylan initially responded to a Twitter prompt about the worst jobs people have ever had, then elaborated from there. This thread had the feel of a catharsis, and it seems as though Ms. Boylan isn't quite finished, either:
Most toxic team environment? Working for @NYGovCuomo. https://t.co/mtM1VYXxSH
— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) December 5, 2020
If people weren’t deathly afraid of him, they’d be saying the same thing and you’d already know the stories.
— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) December 5, 2020
Boylan describes herself as a "progressive" and lists preferred pronouns in her Twitter bio, so this isn't some right-wing hatchet job. Then again, prominent and powerful people often develop detractors and enemies over the years, so "disgruntled former employees" are hardly unheard of. What's interesting about Boylan's allegation is that she insists a long list of others ("a whole book of people") privately agree with her:
Don’t be surprised that it’s the same small group of white people sitting alongside him at every presser. The same group that he has had by him the whole time, doing his dirty work. If you’re not one of those handful, your life working for him is endlessly dispiriting.
— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) December 5, 2020
And I’m a privileged person. I could opt out and eventually did. I shudder to think what happens to others. It pisses me off so much.
— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) December 5, 2020
She added, "I did not sign whatever they told me to sign when I left. Nope!" The New York Post, a newspaper routinely attacked by the governor, followed up -- and Boylan didn't back down or soften her stance, as Ed Morrissey notes:
Boylan doubled down on her claims Monday. “I stand by what I said, and what I said speaks to not only my story, but countless others, predominately women I’ve interacted with or heard from over the years,” she told The Post. Boylan is among Democrats running for Manhattan borough president in the upcoming 2021 election. This year, she tried to unseat Rep. Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, in the Democratic primary but was defeated. Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Post on Monday regarding Boylan’s remarks. Another former aide to Cuomo recently ripped the governor in a November column in The Nation titled “The Collapse of the Cuomosexual” — the moniker adopted by fans of Cuomo. “The Andrew Cuomo New Yorkers know and mostly tolerate, the snarling attack dog who gaslights fellow Democrats and deploys staff to call his female critics ‘f—-g idiots,’ dropped down to Earth last week. It was a hard landing after a long-distance love affair with a fanbase in a galaxy far, far away,” said Alexis Grenell, a media and political consultant.
Boylan added even more thoughts this morning. Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean, who lost both of her in-laws to Coronavirus cases contracted in New York nursing homes, has been a persistent critic of the governor's flagrant lies and cover-ups on the issue. While families suffer, Cuomo is hawking a book proclaiming his own success (more New Yorkers have died from COVID than residents from any other state, by far) and has proudly accepted an Emmy Award for his "masterful" briefings. One of Dean's frustrations is that Cuomo receives kid gloves treatment by the media not only because he's a Democrat, but because people are allegedly afraid of his nastiness and vindictiveness. Apparently, it's an open secret how vicious and ruthless he can be, and this impacts his press coverage. We recently saw some of this bile spill over into the public eye when Cuomo berated reporters for asking reasonable questions about school closures. "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace recently pointed out that Cuomo wasn't just boorish -- he was factually wrong, too:
Quote from Wallace: “He couldn’t have been more obnoxious, more condescending, and, to add to it, more wrong. ” https://t.co/aOozciPviA
— Brit Hume (@brithume) December 6, 2020
[It was] a full case of jerkdom,” Wallace said on Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show.” Wallace then mocked Cuomo for calling a report “obnoxious” during his meltdown, as the governor was insufferable himself. “He couldn’t have been more obnoxious, more condescending, and, to add to it, more wrong,” Wallace said. “He’s earned his reputation the old fashioned way.”
Evidently, that "reputation" is a real thing, which consumers of the generally fawning media attention would never know. I'll leave you with a petulant quote from another arrogant, unaccountable Democratic politician from the opposite coast:
In an “interview” with @SpecNews1SoCal, L.A. County Supervisor @SheilaKuehl says the story we broke about her restaurant visit after her vote to ban outdoor dining is a “non story”, and she she calls our team at @FOXLA a “cartoon network” for covering it.https://t.co/edJCE3ULai
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) December 6, 2020
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