The worst thing about New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo saying America was never great is that he didn’t have the guts stick by it.
I don’t agree with him about the United States. I don’t care if he thinks this country has always lacked greatness. I do care that elected officials have the courage to stand by their convictions. The world doesn’t need another leader who will bend and twist with the wind. We already have enough Cuomos, thank you very much.
The governor tried his best Wednesday to sound like a hypercritical progressive activist. It went about as poorly as you’d expect.
At an event hosted by the New York State Council on Women and Girls, the governor took aim at President Trump’s 2016 slogan (“Make America Great Again”).
“We’re not going to make America great again,” the governor told a crowd this week. “It was never that great.”
[More: Trump claims Andrew Cuomo is ‘having a total meltdown’ after MAGA jab]
He added, “We have not reached greatness. We will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged. We will reach greatness when discrimination and stereotyping against women, 51 percent of our population, is gone, and every woman’s full potential is realized and unleashed, and every woman is making her full contribution.”
Pretty bold, eh? But then almost immediately after the event concluded Wednesday, his office issued a backtracking statement.
Cuomo “believes America is great,” his office said.
“Gov. Cuomo disagrees with the President,” Cuomo’s office said. “The governor believes America is great and that her full greatness will be fully realized when every man, woman, and child has full equality. America has not yet reached its maximum potential.”
Well, okay then. That’s the sort of clear-eyed, uncompromising leadership for which he’s so well-known.
Things are going to be awkward when the governor’s brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, hears about this. The anchor who told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham to leave the county if she doesn’t like the way things are.
“Ingraham talks of changes that none of us ever voted for and most of us don’t like. Wrong,” Cuomo said. “To turn a phrase back on our us-versus-them friends — if you don’t like what America is, you leave.”
He added, “America does not need to become great again. She will only become greater by being more of what she already is.”
Free pitch for CNN: Cuomo v. Cuomo on whether America is great. I’d watch.
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Full disclosure: This author is a paid contributor with CNN/HLN.
