Andrew Cuomo sits for 2-hour interview with NYPost in preparation for New York City mayoral run

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) sat down for a two-hour interview with the New York Post Editorial Board on Monday, defending his gubernatorial legacy as he mounts a political comeback in the New York City mayoral race.

Cuomo, who stepped down from the governor's office in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, announced earlier this month that he is running for New York City mayor. He joins an already-crowded Democratic primary trying to unseat New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is refusing to step down despite increasing demands from members of his own party.

During his meeting with the Post on Monday, Cuomo gave a slideshow presentation that included state data from the COVID-19 pandemic, for which he has faced much criticism for his handling of it.

Cuomo defended the March 25, 2020, directive issued by the state health department that required nursing homes to accept discharged hospital patients who were recovering from COVID.

“You want the state to say, ‘we killed people,’ and that’s not true,” Cuomo said.

He also justified his signing of the 2019 cashless bail law approved by the Democratic state legislature, implying that the far-left Democratic Socialists of America lawmakers were behind it and gave him no choice.

“A governor is not a dictator,” Cuomo said.

“You do the best you can when you can … given the finances, given the political environment, given what you can get done with the legislative,” he added.

The former governor also defended his book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, calling it “ludicrous” and “really offensive” for critics to say that he manipulated policy to profit off of people who died from COVID.

“I thought there was a benefit to saying, ‘We went first. We went worst. Let us tell you what we know,’” Cuomo said. “I thought it would be of assistance. ‘Don’t make the mistakes we made and learn the lessons we learned.’”