Support for Cuomo's coronavirus response collapses as media pays attention to nursing home deaths: Study

Americans have a significantly less favorable opinion of embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo now that the mainstream media is spending time on his ongoing nursing home scandal, according to a new study.

Sixty-five percent of those who were previously uninformed of Cuomo's nursing home policies had an unfavorable opinion of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study commissioned by the Media Research Center. About 45 percent of that same group viewed Cuomo positively on the issue before learning about the extent of the nursing home saga.

The Democratic governor is under fire for his role in thousands of nursing home deaths after he issued an executive order at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic forcing facilities to accept patients who had tested positive. He eventually reversed the decision after thousands died and his administration has since been accused of fudging data to hide the true number of COVID nursing home deaths in the state.

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Cuomo was a darling of the liberal media and the nursing home scandals were largely ignored before recent sexual harassment allegations were made against him.

The Media Research Center found that among 401 broadcast evening news stories which mentioned Cuomo in 2020, only two, or 0.5 percent, mentioned the nursing home controversy.

As Cuomo takes heat over multiple sexual harassment allegations, news organizations that spent a portion of 2020 fawning over him are covering the nursing home tragedy.

McLaughlin & Associates conducted a poll on behalf of the MRC that found the news is critically important to voters.

"The liberal media's failure to properly cover this important story, one quarter of all voters have been left in the dark about this important story, our poll discovered," the MRC staff wrote. "Our nationwide poll of 1,000 general election voters, conducted between February 24 and February 28, shows the consequences of the media’s failure to give the story significant coverage."

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According to the study, only 66.5 percent of voters "said they had heard about the mishandling of nursing home patients and the Cuomo administration’s cover-up," while 25 percent were in the dark and 8.5 percent weren’t sure.

"Of those who were already informed, a large majority (55.8 percent) had an unfavorable impression of how Cuomo handled the pandemic in his state, vs. 40.3 percent who had a favorable impression," the MRC staff wrote. "But those who did not previously know about this story had the opposite take, with 44.9 percent giving Cuomo favorable marks, vs. only 34.5 percent who gave him an unfavorable review."

The study also found that the "previously uninformed group swung heavily in the other direction," with 65.1 percent giving Cuomo an unfavorable rating and only 24.7 percent who felt the governor did a good job.

MRC president Brent Bozell feels the mainstream media is "complicit" in Cuomo’s nursing home scandal.

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"As New Yorkers grieve the loss of family due to Andrew Cuomo’s criminal COVID-19 nursing home policy, the media have completely turned a blind eye. It goes without question, had this happened under a Republican governor’s watch, they would be crucified on national television daily," Bozell said.

"Instead, as the details of this scandal emerged, the media hailed Cuomo as a pandemic hero and America’s savior from President Trump. The hypocrisy is stunning, yet unsurprising," Bozell added. "The liberal media are fully aware of the influence they have over public opinion. This was no mistake. The media are complicit in Governor Cuomo’s deceitful cover-up."