Inside the Beltway: Andrew Cuomo and the fickle press

NEWS AND OPINION:

A new study released Monday reveals that the news media shielded a certain New York official during a critical time in 2020.

“The scandal surrounding New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s mishandling of nursing home patients during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic was never a secret. Yet in their zeal last year to promote Cuomo as a counter to President Trump, broadcast news, cable news, daytime talk shows and late night comics all preferred to tout Cuomo as a pandemic hero, instead of telling the truth about his actions,” wrote Rich Noyes and Bill D’Agostino, both senior editors for Newsbusters.org, a conservative press watchdog.

“Even though New Yorkers learned about the scandal in April 2020, the Cuomo-boosters in the national media refused to touch it. The broadcast evening newscasts made the governor a star of their pandemic coverage, yet devoted a scant 51 seconds to it in all of 2020. This year, as the depths of Cuomo’s duplicity have become apparent, those same newscasts have delivered a scant 10 minutes, 56 seconds during the past four weeks (January 28 to February 25) — nearly as much airtime as they devoted over just four days (February 18-21) to Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz’s ill-advised trip to Cancun (eight minutes, 51 seconds),” the analysts said, citing “puny” coverage on multiple networks.

Meanwhile, things change. A few print headlines from the last 24 hours, following news that Mr. Cuomo had been accused of sexual harassment by two former aides, both women.

“Cuomo backers pause and reevaluate fundraising as he faces sexual harassment probe” (CNBC); “Andrew Cuomo’s survival in office looks doubtful” (The Washington Post); “Stick a fork in Andrew Cuomo he’s done” (PJ Media); “Pelosi: Sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo credible” (The Hill); “Cuomo sorry for remarks aide ’misinterpreted’ as harassment” (The Associated Press); “Cuomo accused of pressuring female reporter to ’eat the whole sausage’ in ’creepy’ video” (New York Post); “Jim Acosta won’t address Cuomo sexual harassment claims” (Fox News); “Biden supports an ’independent review’ into sexual harassment allegations against New York Gov. Cuomo” (Business Insider); and “Cuomo says he’s ’truly sorry’ for workplace comments he says were ’misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation’” (CNN).

ODDS AND MORE ODDS

The public continues to bet on the outcome of political races, just like the outcome of sports events and music or film awards. SportsBetting.ag, an online betting house, currently offers odds on the 2024 presidential race which includes dozens of potential candidates, including such unlikely contenders as Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle and former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

All that said, here’s what the organization says after the Conservative Political Action Conference — that’s CPAC, of course — 24 hours after the event ended. There are new numbers for Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Kristi Noem of South Dakota.

“Some Republicans are calling for a DeSantis-Noem ticket in 2024. Others would like to see their self-proclaimed leader, Donald Trump, grab another GOP nomination. Following CPAC this weekend, which saw Ron DeSantis and Kristi Noem perform well in the straw votes, 2024 election odds were shook up,” the betting house said.

“SportsBetting.ag dropped DeSantis’ 2024 Republican nominee odds to 5/1 after being 14/1 just two weeks ago. His presidential odds went from 25/1 to 12/1. Noem’s GOP nominee odds plummeted from 69/1 to 40/1, and her presidential odds moved down to 18/1,” the organization continued.

“Trump remains the party leader in terms of the betting, however, as his Republican nominee odds were 6/1 and are currently 3/1. Trump moved ahead of Mike Pence and Nikki Haley, who were listed at 2/1 and 5/1, respectively, two weeks ago. Trump’s presidential odds went from 12/1 on February 16 to 7/1 currently.”

PODCASTS AND MORE PODCASTS

Fox News Audio offers a noteworthy array of podcasts from its anchors and contributors, a talent roster that continues to expand. The collection now includes five new podcasts in its programming, set to debut at the rate of one a week, beginning next Monday.

The fare includes “Fox on Tech” with news anchor Brett Larson and “Jason in the House: The Jason Chaffetz Podcast” featuring the former Utah congressman.

“The exclusive series will feature Fox News Media’s robust reporting, commentary and analysis available to stream for free via FoxNewsPodcasts.com,” the network advises.

AN EYE ON THE ’ULTRA-MILLIONAIRE’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, plus Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, have unveiled new legislation of interest to anyone with a net worth of over $50 million.

“The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act would level the playing field and narrow the racial wealth gap by asking the wealthiest 100,000 households in America, or the top 0.05%, to pay their fair share,” the Massachusetts Democrat noted in a news release.

The act imposes a 2% annual tax on households and trusts with a value of $50 million to $1 billion. Households worth over $1 billion would be taxed at 3%. Ms. Warren estimates the new system would generate $3 trillion in revenue in the next decade.

Her co-sponsors include Sens. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, plus Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Kirsten E. Gillibrand of New York, Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts.

However, a wealth tax would be “particularly difficult to pass,” noted a Yahoo Finance analysis of the legislation.

“Democrats have been unable to muster even 50 votes from some administration proposals, including a $15 hourly minimum wage. A wealth tax likely would be even more divisive,” it noted.

POLL DU JOUR

• 30% of U.S. adults who self-identify as Republican would “definitely” vote for a candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

• 29% say Mr. Trump’s endorsement would make them “more likely” to vote for that candidate.

• 25% say his endorsement would have “little or no effect” on their vote.

• 5% say Mr. Trump’s endorsement would make them “less likely” to vote for that candidate.

• 11% are “not sure” whether Mr. Trump’s endorsement would affect their vote.

Source: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 19-22; the poll included 499 Republicans.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.