Cuomo aide ‘texted lawmaker “you’re full of sh*t and a terrible person”‘ after she criticized gov on Covid response’
ANDREW Cuomo’s top secretary Melissa DeRosa is accused of telling a state senator she was “full of sh*t” and “a terrible person” for criticizing the New York governor’s Covid-19 response.
A series of alleged text messages from DeRosa to Senator Alessandra Biaggi surfaced on Friday in a bombshell report after Cuomo was rocked by multiple sexual harassment claims he has repeatedly denied.
New York Magazine obtained screen recordings of the tense exchange and shared the clip on Twitter today, indicating that they demonstrate a culture of bullying within the governor’s administration.
The report claimed Cuomo used women like DeRosa, who is Chairwoman of the NYS Council on Women & Girls, as a “defensive feminist shield” who yelled on his behalf and “amplified” the alleged abuses within his office.
DeRosa took issue with Biaggi demanding to know why elected officials like Cuomo didn’t know the virus had spread to the USA from Europe and tweeting that true leaders “don’t rely on ‘others’ to see looming threats.”
“Who is this directed at?” DeRosa allegedly told Biaggi in a series of heated texts. “You’re both full of shit and a pretty terrible person. If you’d like to share your thoughts I’m all ears.
“Given what a big mouth you have, I’m shocked that u [sic] knew the virus had come from Europe and didn’t say anything. I look forward to understanding why you kept the information to yourself.”
When Biaggi replied, “whoa,” DeRosa continued: “Please by all means. I’m dying to understand your position.”
“The tweet above is a direct quote from CNN,” the state senator replied. I did speak up & was very vocal from the end of February. I shared this with the health commissioner when he visited the Senate in February.
“I’m not interested ever in name-calling, this is not a personal attack it is the truth that I shared & was practically screaming from the rooftops. Whether anyone wanted to hear it is another issue.
“I’m interested only in the facts and to save lives. Not in fighting or arguing about this.”
But DeRosa again replied that the Democratic politician was a “bad person” who was “full of sh**” and demanded that Biaggi send on her public comments as the senator said Cuomo’s aide was “entitled to our opinion.”
During his 2020 press conferences, Cuomo emphasized how no one could have predicted that of strains Covid-19 – which first emerged in Wuhan, China – would have entered New York state via Europe.
The then President Donald Trump had repeatedly dubbed the disease the “China virus,” despite numerous travelers flocking to NYC especially from European countries during the height of the pandemic.
Cuomo was widely praised for his virus response before the nursing home Covid deaths scandal emerged and at least six former aides came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment and bullying.
On Friday, Cuomo issued a 1pm address, noting that women “the right to come forward” but emphasized that “there is still a question of the truth: “I did not do what has been alleged, period,” he concluded.
However, the explosive New York Magazine accuses him of creating a culture of toxicity and alleged that the governor “scrubbed” the nursing home report.
Reporter Rebecca Traistor claimed to have interviewed dozens of former Cuomo employees who allegedly described working for him as being “like a cultish fraternity, and at [other times], like a high-school clique.”
The Sun contacted Cuomo’s spokesperson for comment on Friday afternoon.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has had an oftentimes tense relationship with the governor, spoke out against him again today and called on Cuomo to resign during an interview on The Brian Lehrer Show.
“I think he can no longer govern. And I said very explicitly today, he has to resign,” de Blasio told the WNYC host. “He has lost the faith of the leaders of this state. He has lost the faith of the people.
“He has been covering up scandal after scandal. I mean, what came out in the last few days about explicit efforts to cover up the nursing home scandal.
“[There were] explicit efforts to intimidate former staffers from talking about sexual harassment,” be Blasio continued. “It’s just coverup, after coverup, after coverup, it needs to end. He needs to go.”
So far, Cuomo has refused to step down, insisting he had “no inappropriate sexual relationships” and was elected by the people, not the politicians calling for his resignation.
The New York governor’s statement came after 11 Democrats called on Cuomo to resign over mounting sexual harassment allegations.
But Cuomo retorted that “politicians who don’t know a single fact, but still form a conclusion and an opinion are in my opinion reckless and dangerous.”
Meanwhile, the state Assembly opened an investigation into the allegations against the 63-year-old Democrat and his handling of nursing home deaths.
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The firestorm around Cuomo grew this week after it emerged the latest sex harassment claim that he “groped an aide under her shirt” has been reported to police.
Cuomo’s governor job appears to be hanging by a thread after at least 121 members of the state Assembly and Senate called on Cuomo to quit, according to a tally by The Associated Press.
The count includes 65 Democrats and 56 Republicans.
