Cuomo: ‘Santa’s Gonna To Be Very Good To Me, I Can Tell. I Worked Hard This Year’

Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he had “worked hard this year” and that “Santa’s gonna be very good to me, I can tell” during a coronavirus briefing Monday.

“So, healthy holiday and I’m gonna have a good one. Santa’s gonna be very good to me, I can tell. I worked hard this year. Social distance, wear a mask. Be smart, be smart,” Cuomo said, according to a video of the briefing.

Cuomo has faced criticism for his handling of the coronavirus.

New York undercounted coronavirus deaths from nursing homes in the first months of the pandemic, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported in May.

State officials said New York hospitals sent over 6,300 recovering COVID-19 patients into the nursing homes at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press reported in July. The patients were sent into the nursing homes as part of a highly criticized policy that later was rescinded.

The officials said that sending the patients into the nursing homes wasn’t the reason why New York had one of the U.S.’ highest numbers of nursing home deaths, the AP reported.

Cuomo tweeted on Dec. 11 that he would once again shut down indoor dining in New York City, and restaurant associations say the industry could be crippled for years due to the restrictions.

The DCNF on Tuesday asked Richard Azzopardi, senior advisor to Cuomo, about his policy of sending recovering COVID-19 patients into nursing homes and the coronavirus restrictions forcing restaurants to close.

“That’s trash even for your organization. Merry Christmas,” Azzopardi told the DCNF.

Cuomo talked about the coronavirus bill deal Congress came to and said it gives a bit of emergency aid, according to the video. The New York governor said he’s spoken with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on numerous occasions and said both were working hard.

“They were in an impossible situation because you have Senator McConnell who still takes the position that we should bankrupt the states and wouldn’t do state and local assistance,” Cuomo said, according to the video.

“This is not partisan. Senator McConnell happens to be a Republican. I’m chairman of the National Governors Association. More Republican governors than Democratic governors in this country. The National Governors Association sent a letter to Congress asking for 500 billion dollars in state and local assistance. Do you know what we got in this bill? Zero. Nada. Niente. Zero,” Cuomo said, according to the video.