So much for “Profiles in Courage.”
Nearly every leading Democratic candidate for New York City mayor stayed silent Tuesday when The Post sought their reactions to Gov. Cuomo’s coverup of the true COVID-19 death toll among the state’s nursing-home residents.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, failed presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former Civilian Complaint Review Board Chair Maya Wiley and former investment banker Ray McGuire all declined to weigh in on the spiraling scandal.
Tepid statements were issued by spokespeople for former city Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and former US Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.
“Kathryn firmly believes that government is most effective when it’s honest with people, that the public has a right to transparency, and there was clearly a breakdown of this with the nursing home data,” Garcia’s spokesperson said.
“She believes that an investigation or oversight from the legislature would be appropriate.”
And Donovan’s press secretary said, “Shaun supports a full investigation into this matter to determine the breadth and depth of this unacceptable conduct.”
Republican mayoral hopeful Curtis Sliwa blasted what he described as the Democrats’ overwhelming cowardice.
“You can’t be mayor of New York City and be afraid of Cuomo,” the Guardian Angels founder and radio talk-show host said.
”They know he’s on the ropes. Show some chutzpah!”
Meanwhile, members of New York’s Democratic congressional delegation were likewise reluctant to address the scandal engulfing Cuomo — including the usually outspoken Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens).
On Sunday, Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-Rhinebeck) stood out among his colleagues by calling for a “full investigation” into recorded comments — revealed by The Post last week — by Cuomo’s top aide.
During a Feb. 10 video conference call, Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa told Democratic lawmakers that Cuomo’s administration withheld death data from them out of fear it could be “used against us” by the federal Department of Justice.
DeRosa later issued a statement saying that officials were “comprehensive and transparent in our responses to the DOJ, and then had to immediately focus our resources on the second wave and vaccine rollout.”
On Monday, an unapologetic Cuomo doubled down on a litany of past excuses as he blamed “politics” for the spiraling scandal that’s engulfed his administration since The Post broke the story last week.
According to the latest official Department of Health figures, a total of 13,432 nursing home residents had been killed by COVID-19 as of Monday.
