New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo canceled his Thanksgiving plans Monday after public backlash.
Cuomo told radio station WAMC that his “current plan” Monday afternoon was for his 89-year-old mother, Matilda, and two of his three adult daughters, Michaela and Cara to join him for turkey dinner in Albany on Thursday.
“The current plan is my mom is going to come up and two of my girls, (that’s) the current plan,” Cuomo said. “But the plans change, but that’s my plan. But I’m going to work — I have a lot of work to do between now and Thanksgiving.”
According to the Democrat & Chronicle, the gathering would have been within his own order limiting private gatherings to 10 people to slow the spread of coronavirus in New York state.
However, it would’ve been against CDC guidelines, which say the “safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with.” Cuomo’s mother and daughters do not live with him full time, though his daughters spent time at the Governor’s Mansion early in the Covid-19 pandemic this spring.
It also went against Cuomo’s own recommendations for the Nov. 26 holiday.
“My personal advice is you don’t have family gatherings — even for Thanksgiving,” Cuomo told reporters last Wednesday. “It’s going to happen because it’s human behavior… I get it. I understand it. It’s wrong.”
The New York Post reports Cuomo was swiftly criticized by Republican officials Monday.
“This is one of the many reasons why Cuomo is the WORST Governor in America,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Schuylerville) tweeted. “His arrogance and hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
“The governor lives in an alternate reality,” Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) told The Post. “Four family members, plus his police detail, cooks, caterers, cleaners, assistants and staff. If these outsiders can come to the governor’s mansion for Thanksgiving, as they do on a daily basis, in and out, then it’s quite another thing to tell New Yorkers their Aunt Tilly cannot.”
Two hours after Cuomo’s initial comments, his senior adviser Rich Azzopardi said Cuomo would not be seeing his mother.
“As the Governor said, he had been discussing seeing his mother with two of his daughters for a four person Thanksgiving in accordance with all state issued guidance, but as he also said the plans were still changing,” Cuomo senior advisor Rich Azzopardi said.
“Given the current circumstances with COVID, he will have to work through Thanksgiving and will not be seeing them. Don’t tell his mom — she doesn’t know yet.”
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