Andrew Cuomo announces launch of new podcast, PAC and gun safety project
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Wednesday announced he’s starting a podcast, a political action committee and a project to fight for gun control.
“I am very concerned about the state of our country. I believe our democracy is in peril and that this is a critical time in our nation. Just look around us: we have real problems to solve, but we are more divided than at any time since the Civil War," Cuomo said in a video address.
In an eight-minute talk-to-camera video, Cuomo addressed viewers directly and mused on his months off “engaging in something called life” after he left public office last August and his “new perspective” on politics.
The former governor resigned last year amid concerns about New York's response to the coronavirus pandemic and accusations of sexual harassment.
In the new video, Cuomo announced plans to launch a conversation-based weekly podcast to "speak the full truth, unvarnished" while sharing his perspective from his time in politics.
“I believe only you can change the trajectory of this nation, and then the politicians will follow. And the first step is to establish the facts. Not Democratic facts, or Republican facts, but actual facts. Unfortunately, today, we are short on facts, and we are long on opinion, and we need to fix that,” Cuomo said.
His new political action committee, the name of which he did not share, aims “to elect the right people to office.” He said those candidates will be able to “take the heat that goes with leadership” and get results.
The former governor is also heading up the “Gun Safe America Project" and said more information on the initiative is coming soon.
"I do not believe our federal government has the courage or the capacity to make real progress," Cuomo said of the gun issue.
In his analysis of the current political landscape, Cuomo knocked the “Twitter mob” that “many politicians and press are afraid to challenge ... lest the mob turn on them,” which he said has paralyzed progress in Washington.
“No one talks. Everyone yells. And no one believes anyone. It's all about partisan and personal politics rather than sound and smart policy. Social media has created a political Roman Colosseum, that encourages the loud and the mean and the outrageous," Cuomo said.
"The heated rhetoric of the extreme minority dominates the dialogue: defund this, condemn those, cancel that, lock out them, and do it now, right now,” Cuomo said.