Bill Maher to Chris Cuomo: You Know What Might Sink Your Brother's Mayoral Campaign?

In case you'd missed it, disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is trying to resurrect his political career by running for Mayor of New York City. According to multiple recent polls, he is the Democratic frontrunner at this point, and therefore the overall frontrunner in the race. For what it's worth, scandal-plagued incumbent Eric Adams is languishing in the single digits and appears headed for defeat, despite the dismissal of federal charges against him (amid allegations of a political quid pro quo deal). In spite of the ex-gov's double-digit advantage in those public opinion surveys, comedian and heterodox center-left political commentator Bill Maher thinks part of Cuomo's tainted legacy could still end up proving disqualifying for many voters. In a podcast discussion with Cuomo's younger brother -- media personality Chris Cuomo -- Maher said he's not sure people have gotten to the 'forgive and forget' stage, given what the then-governor did to seniors in nursing homes during COVID.

I hope Maher is right about this:

Bill Maher suggests to Chris Cuomo that his brother, Andrew, won’t win the mayoral race in New York City because people aren’t going to forget the thousands of elderly people who died from C-VID due to his policies.

Bill Maher: “I don't think he’s going to get past the nursing… pic.twitter.com/4q0Hp9dRtq
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) April 6, 2025

Keep in mind, it wasn't just a very bad decision -- a lethal one, in fact -- made in the fog of war. That could be forgivable. Cuomo's real sin was the cover-up and manipulation of statistics on nursing home deaths, all while writing and hawking a book about his supposedly stellar COVID leadership. The Left falsely accused Florida of cooking its books, as Cuomo's New York was actively guilty of exactly that. But Andrew Cuomo has reinvented himself as a common-sense, even relatively conservative, politician. He's talking tough on crime and wants to seem sensible on illegal immigration. Voters can decide for themselves whether to trust this man, given his record, but they should not forget what he did. As a reminder of what he did, please read this essay by a man whose parents died as a result of Cuomo's decisions:

On 25 March, 2020, at the height of the Covid pandemic, a single piece of paper, a directive signed by Andrew Cuomo, then the governor of New York, brought about thousands of deaths in nursing homes and similar care facilities. Among the victims were my parents, Michael J. Newman and Dolores D. Newman, but known as Mickey and Dee to anyone who knew them. My father died at a nursing home in Long Beach, and my mother died at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset after contracting Covid-19 in her senior-care residence in Far Rockaway. Her passing was recorded as a hospital fatality. We would later find out that my mom’s death along with thousands of others would be undercounted by the former governor as he infamously said, “Who cares [if they] died in the hospital, died in a nursing home? They died.” Now, as Cuomo tries to revive his political career as the next mayor of New York City, I feel duty-bound to recall his lapse in judgment, and what it did to my family...Five years later, it’s important to remember that then-Gov. Cuomo’s 25 March nursing-home directive wilfully brought disease to the group least prepared to defend themselves against the novel coronavirus. Their only chance was isolation. Nursing homes and similar care centres were the keep in the castle for these seniors. They had nowhere else to run. Instead of putting up barricades and putting up a final defence, Covid was helped through the front by a decree from the man who now wants to lead Gotham.

The whole piece is worth reading. It's heartbreaking. How many of these deaths became statistics that Cuomo and his cronies altered or re-categorized for political cover? And yes, Cuomo really did say the quote attributed to him in the excerpt above:

🤯 "But who cares.... they died."

We care, @NYGovCuomo. You sent COVID patients to the nursing homes. People didn't have to die but, under your directive, they did. pic.twitter.com/c7Cz6H9Syk
— Independent Women's Voice (@IWV) January 29, 2021

Choose wisely, New Yorkers. It's been awhile since you have. And this man's character is not a mystery. Gulp:

NYC POLL with @PIX11News & @thehill

Democratic Primary 1st Choice:

Cuomo 38%
Mamdani 10%
Adams 8%
Lander 6%
Ramos 6%
Stringer 5%
Undecided 17%

Hypothetical General Election:

Cuomo (D) 43%
Curtis Sliwa (R) 13%
Eric Adams (I) 11%
Jim Walden (I) 4%https://t.co/RixsebHIrq pic.twitter.com/nqhqxBwuOl
— Emerson College Polling (@EmersonPolling) March 26, 2025