Social media pans Cuomo’s comeback attempt

March 7, 2022 David Porter Associated Press, and Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, speaks to the media during a news conference at Lenox Road Baptist Church in Brooklyn on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez

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Reaction on social media was largely negative after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke at a Brooklyn church on Sunday, hinting at a political comeback.

The Democrat made a campaign-like stop at God’s Battalion of Prayer Church at 661 Linden Blvd., delivering a speech in which he condemned “cancel culture.” The public appearance, his first since leaving office, came a week after Cuomo’s campaign launched a digital and television advertising campaign saying that he was driven from office unfairly.

NYS Attorney General Letitia James, whose investigations were largely responsible for Cuomo’s fall from grace, said, “Serial sexual harasser Andrew Cuomo won’t even spare a house of worship from his lies. Even though multiple independent investigations found his victims to be credible, Cuomo continues to blame everyone but himself.”

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League said, “People go to church on Sunday to pray, commune with God, and to be inspired. They don’t go to be pandered to by politicians, especially disgraced former politicians.”

@marden22 tweeted, “Anyone who’d even consider to invite Andrew Cuomo doesn’t understand empathy or sympathy. Makes me question a church immediately. Follow the money!”

“Voices4Seniors,” responding to a tweet from the Rev. Ruben Diaz in the Bronx, who invited Cuomo to that borough to discuss local issues, said, “Retweet if you think @revrubendiaz should invite the grieving nursing home families to his church instead of mass-murderer Andrew Cuomo.”

However, there were some on social media who apparently dislike AG James more than Cuomo, and defended the former governor while taking digs at James. “Eve of Destruction” tweeted, “She keeps digging the hole her career will eventually be buried in deeper on a daily basis.”

Cuomo quoted the Bible several times as he described his travails then went on the offensive to attack the “political sharks” in Albany who, he said, “smelled blood” and exploited the situation for political gain.

“The actions against me were prosecutorial misconduct,” Cuomo said, repeating a theme he has pushed from the outset. “They used cancel culture to effectively overturn an election.”

Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James, who released the report last summer that concluded Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, hit back at the former governor Sunday via a statement from her reelection campaign.

“Serial sexual harasser Andrew Cuomo won’t even spare a house of worship from his lies,” James’ campaign said. “Even though multiple independent investigations found his victims to be credible, Cuomo continues to blame everyone but himself.”

Cuomo resigned in August, days after an independent probe found he sexually harassed nearly a dozen women and that he and aides worked to retaliate against an accuser. On Sunday, Cuomo acknowledged his behavior wasn’t appropriate but quickly added that nothing he did violated the law.

“I didn’t appreciate how fast the perspectives changed,” he said. “I’ve learned a powerful lesson and paid a very high price for learning that lesson. God isn’t finished with me yet.”

Cuomo hasn’t said he’s running for office, but is still sitting on a multimillion dollar campaign war chest he could use to finance another run.

Several district attorneys in New York said they found Cuomo’s accusers “credible,” but said the available evidence wasn’t strong enough to press criminal charges against him. Last month, a New York state trooper sued him claiming he caused her severe mental anguish and emotional distress by touching her inappropriately and making suggestive comments. A Cuomo spokesperson called the suit a “cheap cash extortion.”

Cuomo used his platform Sunday mostly to condemn a social media-fueled climate he said is growing and dangerous.

“Any accusation can trigger condemnation without facts or due process,” he said. “We are a nation of laws, not a nation of tweets. Woe unto us if we allow that to become our new justice system.”