Report: Controversial New York Gov. Cuomo Floated for Major Position in Biden's Cabinet
Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who served as the state’s attorney general prior to his 2010 election as governor, is being mentioned as a possible attorney general if Democratic candidate Joe Biden wins the presidential election.
According to Axios, sources said that aides at the National Governors Association are “so convinced” that Cuomo will want to return to Washington that they are looking for a replacement to serve as chair if Cuomo, the current chair, departs.
Cuomo served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration from 1997 to 2001.
Axios reported that Cuomo “is being pushed for the job” but also that the governor, whose term ends in 2022, is not interested in serving.
“One hundred percent he’s made zero outreach, has had zero conversations about this and has made his desire to stay in New York clear as day and be governor as long as people want him,” Richard Azzopardi, an adviser to Cuomo, said in a statement, according to the New York Post.
Of course, Biden would have to win the election in order to add Cuomo to the administration, a possibility the Trump campaign dismissed out of hand.
“There is zero chance that President Trump will appoint Gov. Cuomo attorney general in his second term,” Tim Murtaugh, director of communications for Trump’s 2020 campaign, told Fox News.
A possible Cuomo appointment raised eyebrows on Twitter.
Joe Biden is actively considering Andrew Cuomo to be the Attorney General of the United States if he is elected.
If you didn’t have a reason to vote against him before, you should have one now.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) October 12, 2020
Two years ago, Andrew Cuomo told a gathering of Democrats that “America was never that great.”
For him to be a potential Attorney General tells you everything you need to know about Joe Biden’s values and how he would govern our great nation. https://t.co/DuobZt8yr5
— BDW (@BryanDeanWright) October 11, 2020
Democrats are so convinced that Andrew Cuomo could be considered for Joe Biden’s attorney general that aides at the National Governors Association, which Cuomo chairs, are looking into contingencies for replacing him, two sources tell Axios. https://t.co/4yGBx9Mwlr
— Axios (@axios) October 11, 2020
It’s all fun and games until Andrew Cuomo puts Joe Biden in a nursing home https://t.co/2aADYxOlk8
— Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) October 11, 2020
Axios noted that Biden and Cuomo are personally close, as Biden had known Cuomo’s father, the late New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
According to Axios, Biden will face extensive pressure to have a gender and racially diverse Cabinet and named former acting attorney general Sally Yates and high-profile former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams as possible names on a Biden list.
Although Cuomo has thrust himself into the national limelight during his state’s battle with the coronavirus, controversy has followed him as New York has emerged with the second-highest death rate in the nation.
A Cuomo order that sent many COVID-19 patients into nursing homes has been linked with a spike in deaths at those facilities, The New York Times reported.
Cuomo is also currently battling claims that his recent actions to crack down on Jewish houses of worship are “unwarranted, unnecessary and unconstitutional restrictions,” according to The Times.
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