As New York Gov. Kathy Hochul continues to avoid answering how many healthcare workers have been suspended or fired due to the state’s vaccine mandate, it was revealed that she was going to be off the ticket come 2022 as then-Gov Andrew Cuomo made his plans for a fourth term. This was shortly before the string of sexual harassment claims that ruined his political career. It seems that the more Cuomo’s former aides reveal, the more that Hochul and Cuomo really had it out for each other in the world of politics.
Cuomo previously had issues with Hochul and tried to push Democrats to replace her back in 2018. She’d been looking to run for the seat that is now held by GOP Chris Collins but had been told by House Leader Nancy Pelosi to make the run. Sources said that Hochul was getting pressure to run for Congress while the governor had been “absolutely mum” on the issue of a Hochul replacement.
Sources close to Cuomo reveal that he wanted to replace her on his 2018 ticket with someone from downstate who had a relationship with minority communities. According to them, there was “no relationship” between Cuomo and Hochul, with many believing that she could not stand up to the radical-left Democrats taking over influence in New York City politics at the time.
A former Cuomo insider said Cuomo tried to sideline Hochul as much as possible and “minimize her profile” because he wanted more diversity on his 2022 ticket. After being left in the dark for so long, Hochul is now leaving everyone else in the dark. She has been asked numerous times by reporters about the staffing shortages and shutdowns in the state regarding vaccine mandates.
Albany Medical Center temporarily closed two of their Emergency Care Centers and St. Peter’s Health Partners closed three of their labs. The staff shortages are making it impossible for people to get the medical attention they want, especially since these healthcare workers are being forced off the job over an experimental shot.
WRGB’s Anne McCloy recently asked Hochul about the number of vacancies caused by the mandates and how she plans to fill the roles of those professional nurses and doctors. “Why should New Yorkers accept that you don’t have the numbers available of vacancies at hospitals due to the vaccine mandate when that could put people at risk?” McCloy asked.
Gov. Hochul responded that the “numbers are changing by the moment” and that there’s a “fundamental misunderstanding” of how the numbers came to be. She emphasized how the numbers they give are not accurate and that they will give more accurate reports when they are available. She said they are setting up opportunities for student nurses, those who have a lapse in their license, and bringing in the National Guard if needed.
Reporter McCloy pushed back that they can’t have student nurses filling the roles in local hospital systems and asked what they are supposed to do then. Hochul claimed that her Executive Action allowed them to do that, in which McCloy defended the hospitals for saying student nurses are not qualified to fill those roles.
“If they don’t want to use student nurses, they don’t have to. I’m not saying they’re going to go in and do brain surgery. I’m saying they can provide a role to allow someone else to do it where they have the right skills,” Gov. Hochul said.
Gov. Hochul continues to promise the number of healthcare workers that got suspended or fired over the mandate, as well as a pathway to protect the medical services and health of New Yorkers across the state. There might be a few reasons Hochul wasn’t being considered for the 2022 ticket and people are starting to see why.
