Embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said his administration “made the mistake in creating the void of information on nursing home deaths” and that a toxic political environment contributed to the backlash against his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports Fox News.
“The truth is everybody did everything they could,” he said during a press conference as calls for him to resign ramped up after a top aide admitted the administration withheld information on nursing home deaths so former President Donald Trump couldn’t use it against the state.
“The truth is COVID attacks senior citizens. The truth is with all we know, people still die in nursing homes today.
“Older people, vulnerable people get this disease, it is likely to kill them. That’s why people died, not because anyone did anything wrong or because there was a conspiracy.”
Still, Cuomo’s comments fell short of an apology.
“The last thing I wanted to do was aggravate a terrible situation,” said Cuomo, a third-term Democrat. “There were people’s requests, press requests that were not answered in a timely manner.”
More than 15,000 people have died in New York state’s nursing homes and long term care facilities from COVID-19, but as recently as last month, the state reported only 8,500 deaths.
Republicans have called for investigations and subpoenas and some Democrats have referred to Cuomo’s conduct as criminal.
“This is a betrayal of the public trust,” Andrew Gounardes, a Democratic state senator, wrote on Twitter. “There needs to be full accountability for what happened.”
State lawmakers in both parties have called for Cuomo to be stripped of emergency powers granted to him last year at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.