by Debra Heine
In their prime time news broadcasts last night, five major broadcast networks reportedly neglected to cover the explosive sexual harassment allegations made by a former aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D).
ABC, CBS, and NBC, MSNBC, and CNN all ignored the accusations of Lindsey Boylan, who on Wednesday published an exposé in Medium detailing Cuomo’s inappropriate and harassing behavior toward her, (which Cuomo has denied), according to Newsbusters.
As of Thursday morning, CNN had still not covered the scandal on its website.
“Put simply, it was a blatant double standard when contrasted with how they savaged conservatives like Justice Brett Kavanaugh,” the media watchdog noted.
Boylan first accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct in a series of tweets last December, which the networks also ignored.
Fox News covered the scandal throughout the day, including on Tucker Carlson Tonight, where the host warned parents to keep their daughters away from any man who claims they’re a feminist, “just as a rule.”
In her piece, Boylan wrote: “His inappropriate behavior toward women was an affirmation that he liked you, that you must be doing something right. He used intimidation to silence his critics and if you dared speak up, you would face consequences.”
Boylan described how she had been subjected to repeated unwelcome romantic overtures from Cuomo, culminating in an incident that happened in 2018, after she had been promoted to Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Special Advisor to the Governor.
We were in his New York City office on Third Avenue. As I got up to leave and walk toward an open door, he stepped in front of me and kissed me on the lips. I was in shock, but I kept walking.
I left past the desk of Stephanie Benton. I was scared she had seen the kiss. The idea that someone might think I held my high-ranking position because of the Governor’s “crush” on me was more demeaning than the kiss itself.After that, my fears worsened. I came to work nauseous every day. My relationship with his senior team — mostly women — grew hostile after I started speaking up for myself. I was reprimanded and told to get in line by his top aides, but I could no longer ignore it. On September 26, 2018, I sent a mass email informing staff members of my resignation.
Instead of reporting on Boylan’s explosive allegations, ABC World News Tonight was more interested in covering an American Airline flight that reported a UFO, Newsbusters pointed out.
The broadcast networks on Wednesday also refused to cover a rally in New York City that was put on by local politicians and families victimized by Cuomo’s now-infamous nursing home order, according to the media watchdog.
Queens Assemblyman Ron Kim and fellow elected officials called out the governor for bullying tactics during the rally.
“On March 25, 2020, Cuomo issued a mandate that said 9,000 COVID patients to unprepared nursing homes,” Kim said. “They told the Department of Health over and over that they could not handle them. They didn’t have PPE, their staff was sick with COVID already and they were not working. Nursing home workers told the Governor that if they sent COVID patients back to nursing homes they would die. What was Cuomo’s answer to them? He gave them a license to kill. That is what criminal and legal immunity is. It is the license to kill older adults through substandard care knowing that they can’t go to jail or be sued by families,” Kim said.
Kim went on to accuse Cuomo of abusing his power and trying to bully others to do what he wants, chanting with the crowd, “Cuomo is an abuser. Cuomo abuses his powers. Abusers are cowards!”
Kim, a left-wing Democrat who represents Queens, accused Cuomo last week of threatening to destroy his career if I did issue a statement covering up his administration’s misconduct. “It was a very traumatizing experience,” Kim said.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are demanding that Cuomo be subpoenaed to testify about his administration’s handling of COVID19 in nursing homes.
And now five New York state senators and NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio are calling for a second probe on the sexual misconduct allegations.
The FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, meanwhile, have reportedly begun a preliminary investigation into the Cuomo administration handling of nursing home residents who contracted COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic.
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Debra Heine reports for American Greatness.
Photo “Andrew Cuomo” by Andrew Cuomo.
