Cuomo’s Flirtation With Trump Points to Opening for a Centrist Democrat

Governor Cuomo, nearing the anniversary of his resignation, once again is finding himself in the spotlight. This time, he appears to be positioning himself for a political comeback.Following the announcement of the raid on President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Mr. Cuomo staked out his position, stating that the justice department “must immediately explain the reason for its raid.”He added: “it must be more than a search for inconsequential archives or it will be viewed as a political tactic and undermine any future credible investigation & legitimacy of January 6 investigations.”These comments landed him on the cover of the New York Daily News under the headline, “The Odd Couple.” The News draws comparisons between the governor and Mr. Trump.To be sure, there are plenty of parallels between Messrs. Trump and Cuomo. They are both Queens natives, they both left power positions while embroiled in scandal, and they have both cultivated a loyal personal fandom.Mr. Cuomo’s statement on the FBI raid elicited a wave of responses online, with many comparing Messrs. Trump and Cuomo and accusing Mr. Cuomo of being sympathetic to Mr. Trump’s position.While it’s impossible to know what’s going on inside of the head of the governor, his messaging does draw a clear political strategy. For months Mr. Cuomo has focused on appealing to a more conservative demographic, and this fits right in.During his first public appearance after his resignation, Mr. Cuomo appeared at a church, God’s Battalion of Prayer, at Crown Heights in Brooklyn. He claimed that “God isn’t finished with me yet,” while delivering a speech railing against cancel culture. He was welcomed by the Reverend Alfred Cockfield II, who had recently launched a political organization aimed at supporting moderate Democrats.He later appeared at a church in Bronx County for an event with the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization, on the invitation of Council Member Rubén Diaz Sr., a former state senator who is an outspoken, conservative Democrat, including on the abortion issue.Throughout his political exile, Mr. Cuomo has focused much of his messaging on his family as well as his faith, while alleging that the accusations of sexual misconduct that ended his governorship were politically motivated, a position similar to that Mr. Trump is taking.The move has raised questions in the political world, perhaps best articulated by the New York Senate Democratic spokesman, Michael Murphey, who tweeted, “Doesn’t really help … what a strange strategy by him.”In the opinion of a political scientist at John Jay college, Susan Kang, the strategy makes perfect sense. She argues that this is a calculated move by a politician planning a return.“He’s staying on brand as someone who questions when sitting politicians engage in investigations into potential opponents,” she argued. “There are definitely people out there who are sensitive to what Cuomo is saying.”Ms. Kang argues that Mr. Cuomo is carving himself a position as an anti-cancel culture Democrat who pushes against the grain of the party with pragmatic, moderate policies. There does appear to be an opening for an anti-cancel culture Democrat, should someone care to step up to the plate. A May poll, conducted by two professors of government at Cornell, Steve Israel and Doug Kriner, found that an overwhelming majority of Democrats — 70 percent — supported a halt to canceling people.This growing disapproval of the phenomenon lines up with an increased awareness among the general public. A Pew Research report found that 61 percent of Americans have heard at least “a fair amount” about cancel culture, up from 44 percent in 2020.The same report found that more Americans are now defining cancel culture as punishing “people who didn’t deserve it,” as compared to 2020. Among Democrats, that proportion grew to 32 percent in 2022 from 22 percent.Among Republicans, the proportion who saw cancel culture as punishing those “who didn’t deserve it” grew to 62 percent from 52 percent. Among the general population it grew to 45 percent from 38 percent.To Ms. Kang, Mr. Cuomo’s comments on the raid at Mar-a-Lago fit into his larger argument that “all these investigations are politically motivated.” She argues that getting the public to see these investigations as being fundamentally political is Mr. Cuomo’s first step in making his return as a Democrat with a “socially conservative slant.”In short, if he can fashion himself as a victim of cancel culture and politically motivated investigations, he can set himself up for a comeback as an anti-woke centrist, she said.“He’s very good at the media, he’s very good at consolidating politics around him,” Ms. Kang said. “He’s a shrewd political operator.”

Cuomo’s Flirtation With Trump Points to Opening for a Centrist Democrat

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