Andrew Cuomo could’ve simply been remembered as the disgraced former governor of New York who resigned in 2021 after numerous women came forward to share how he had sexually harassed them. Despite Cuomo’s claim he did nothing wrong, a report from New York Attorney General Tish James at the time--which compelled him to resign the following week--found he had harassed eleven women as well as retaliated against one of the brave women who had spoken out.
But instead, Cuomo will be remembered for peddling anti-Muslim hate and appealing to white supremacy in the closing weeks of his campaign for mayor of New York City. He cemented that legacy with his comments Saturday on MSNBC warning that diversity is a “weakness”—which is the same sentiment we hear from MAGA bigots like Pete Hegseth.
Taking a step back, here is Cuomo appearing Saturday on MSNBC trailing in the polls on average by 15 points. However, shortly before his MSNBC interview, a new poll was released showing Cuomo only down by seven points following a week of himself and his allies trafficking in anti-Muslim hate directed at Democratic mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani. (The new poll showing only a seven point lead poll is an outlier given even a Fox News poll released Thursday showed Zohran up by 16 points.)
But when you are desperate like Cuomo, you lean into what you think is working. That is when Cuomo surprised co-host Jonathan Capehart by saying, “diversity is our strength, but it can also be a weakness.”
After he finished his answer, Capehart’s co-host Eugene Daniels—who is also Black—said he wanted to make sure Cuomo didn’t misspeak in his earlier comment. So he then asked Cuomo what he meant by “diversity being a weakness?” That is when Cuomo doubled down, saying, “Diversity can be a weakness if you have antipathy among groups, Jonathan.”
Cuomo’s remark raised two issues about his fitness to be mayor. First, Cuomo made it clear that he was playing from the MAGA playbook which demeans diversity as a weakness. Secondly, Cuomo added fuel to the fire that he is truly out of touch when he called co-host Eugene Daniels, “Jonathan” –the name of the other Black host. That caused Eugene to correct him on air. But Cuomo offered zero acknowledgment he made a mistake-as if it didn’t matter that he had confused the names of the two Black hosts.
Cuomo’s comment attacking diversity could’ve helped him politically if he were running for the GOP primary for President—or for mayor in a GOP controlled, primarily white city. But obviously he’s not. Cuomo is running to be mayor of the most diverse city in the United States. A special place where we believe that diversity makes this city of more than eight million not only stronger—but also bluntly more interesting and dynamic.
If Cuomo had bothered to even look at the official government website for New York City, he would see that 37 percent of New Yorkers were born outside of the country. Almost 50% of the city’s businesses are owned by immigrants. And amazingly more than 200 languages are spoken in the Big Apple. There is no other city in America that is as vibrant and diverse—and that is why I proudly live in the City of New York.
If Cuomo ever lived in New York City—as opposed to moving here simply to run for Mayor—he would get that. He would also be aware of how incredibly racially diverse Gotham is. The latest data finds that 30% of the population is white, with 29% Hispanic, 22% Black and 15% Asian.
Look, if a person living in New York truly hated diversity—or agreed with Cuomo that “diversity is a weakness”—they would likely have already moved out of one of the five boroughs. (Or at least have moved to Staten Island!) Cuomo doesn’t get that. Nor does he grasp that there are simply not enough people living in New York City that need a person to be the “protector of whiteness” that Cuomo is offering—which is exactly how Trump has positioned himself.
But even before this comment—which was not a mistake, but rather a strategy given Cuomo repeated it—we have seen Cuomo despicably peddle anti-Muslim BS in an effort to smear Zohran. Last week, Cuomo appeared on WABC radio with Trump loving host Sid Rosenberg—who in the past had described Zohran as an “animal” and a “terrorist.” (Says a lot that Cuomo would go on a show hosted by an open anti-Muslim bigot.) During the interview, Cuomo stated, “God forbid, another 9/11 – can you imagine Mamdani in the seat?” Rosenberg replied, “He’d be cheering.” Cuomo said with a laugh, “That’s another problem.”
Cuomo then appeared with the current Mayor Eric Adams—who spewed more anti-Muslim hate at Zohran right in front of him. Adams screamed, “New York can’t be Europe, folks.” He continued, “I don’t know what is wrong with people. You see what’s playing out in other countries because of Islamic extremism.” Adams then listed terrorist attacks waged by Muslim extremists in other countries.
Did Cuomo denounce those comments after Adams stopped speaking? Nope. Cuomo smiled and then gleefully accepted Adam’s endorsement that immediately followed the anti-Muslim remarks.
Cuomo knows exactly what he is doing. This is the same Cuomo who as governor in 2017, responded to Trump’s Muslim ban by declaring, “As a New Yorker, I am a Muslim.” Shocking, I know!
But wait, there’s more. Cuomo continued on after saying he was a Muslim to declare, “As a New Yorker, I am Jewish. As a New Yorker, I am black, I am gay, I am disabled, I am a woman seeking to control her health and her choices because as a New Yorker we are one community and the New York community is composed of all of the above.”
The message is clear. When Cuomo thinks celebrating diversity helps him politically, he will do just that. But when he thinks trafficking in bigotry and attacking diversity can help him politically, he is all too happy to spew that garbage.
On a personal level, what Cuomo is doing is insulting it two ways. First, as a Muslim American and the son of an immigrant, Cuomo’s peddling in anti-Muslim garbage and xenophobia makes everyone in the Muslim community less safe. And second, being of Italian heritage on my mother’s side, it’s deeply offensive that a fellow Italian American would spew the same type of hate that my Sicilian grandparents--and no doubt Cuomo’s ancestors--were subjected to when they first moved to the United States.
If Cuomo had made this race a referendum on policy differences with Zohran, perhaps he could’ve closed the gap. But instead, Cuomo made his closing message a referendum on bigotry. That is yet even more evidence that Cuomo simply doesn’t get New York City. And this is a big reason why come Tuesday night, Zohran will be Mayor-elect while Cuomo will fade into obscurity.
For those who want to hear more on Zohran Mamdani’s plan to make NYC affordable—which is the issue he has been laser focused on—I posted below my interview of Zohran from earlier this year during the Democratic primary. When you listen to Zohran, you will quickly grasp that he knows the issues in great detail, has policy proposals grounded in reality and is not afraid to say he will raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for this:
Good article, Cuomo needs to go. I am sick of the hate and fear politicians and religions use to control people.
Diversity is our strength!