Andrew Cuomo said he would not leave his post as governor of New York even if there were a last-second effort to draft him for president.
Cuomo has already stressed he has no desire to run for president in 2020, but he outright rejected the hypothetical scenario of being recruited on Sean Hannity’s radio show. The governor told Hannity he would not accept a last-minute nomination from the party, even if something were to go wrong with Joe Biden’s clear path to the nomination.
“Where is the Shermanesque: ‘If drafted, I will not run. If nominated, I will not accept. If elected, I will not serve.’ Will you make that statement today?” Hannity asked.
“Yes,” Cuomo responded. “Here’s the Shermanesque. I have zero interest in president, vice president, going to Washington. I’ve been there, done that. I was a Cabinet secretary under Bill Clinton. I was there for eight years. I’m going to be governor of New York, Sean.”
He continued, “It’s very important to me that people understand that because, frankly, this is such an intense, partisan environment. I can’t do my job at this moment in time if there’s any political agenda whatsoever. I’m not going anywhere. Period.”
Hannity asked the same question again, to which Cuomo replied: “Yes … I want to be crystal clear because, look, I am governor of New York at a time of historic need. We have people dying, 600 yesterday. They’re not Democrats. They’re not Republicans. They’re New Yorkers. I represent all of them.”
Cuomo was reelected as governor in 2018 and is serving a four-year term. His well-received response to the coronavirus crisis, which has hit New York particularly badly, had led to buzz about him being a late entry into the 2020 race, even though party rules make it nearly impossible for Cuomo to be the nominee at such a late stage.
