Trump Loves a Fight; Cuomo Should Not Take the Bait
By: Dr. Dion
Tags: Leadership, Andrew Cuomo, Donald Trump, Politics, Coronavirus

WABC-TV

Donald Trump loves Twitter. That’s not news. Donald Trump uses Twitter to attack his enemies, promote conspiracy theories, and shape narratives to his liking. Again — not breaking news, here. However, because he has been able to do this for the past six years with impunity, his behavior has a corrupting influence on others. Much like the unruly student who the teacher rarely reprimands; before long, other students — even usually well behaved ones — begin to act out, misbehave, and adopt the bully’s tactics. Perhaps it is inevitable, but it is still harmful. In the classroom, it harms everyone’s ability to learn. In the country, it harms everyone’s ability to get anything meaningful done, like, for instance, defeating a deadly pandemic.

Consider this exchange between longtime nemeses, Trump and NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Trump tweeted:

Governor Cuomo has shown tremendously poor leadership skills in running N.Y. Bad time for him to be writing and promoting a book, especially since he has done such a poor job with Covid and Crime. So many unnecessary deaths. The City & State have sunk to historic lows. Washington wants nothing to do with him, and that’s so bad for New York, which has become a ghost town. Andrew spends too much time listening to his brother, Fredo. Forget the books and your apology tour. The Federal Government would love to help New York regain its luster!

There are so many things wrong with this tweet, it’s hard to know where to begin. But, for the sake of brevity, it’s nasty, it’s untrue, it contains an ethnic slur, and it’s completely counterproductive at a time when the federal-state relationship is essential to save lives. It makes Trump seem immature and yes, unpresidential.

Trump did not tag Cuomo in the tweet, but clearly he heard about it because his response was swift and sharp. From his official NY Governor account, Cuomo replied:

C’mon Donald — you didn’t read my book, everyone knows you don’t read. There are lessons to learn & you still haven’t. With 8.2M+ Americans infected, you are the #1 super-spreader. Enjoy life in FL (POS rate 12%) in 2 weeks; NY (POS rate 1.1%) won’t miss you​. PS- Wear a mask.

There are so many things wrong with this tweet, it’s hard to know where to begin. But, for the sake of verbosity:

Cuomo doesn’t need to hit back at Trump’s social media screeds. Seven months after the first cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in NY, Cuomo still enjoys a 73% approval rating for his pandemic response and the majority of New Yorkers approve of his job performance and his governorship overall. Cuomo is winning. Cuomo’s tweet was pretty nasty too. While one may think Trump deserves nothing less, what have the people of Florida ever done to him for him to revel in their 12% positivity rate? Cuomo’s issue is with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who made a fool of himself boasting about his pandemic response before the coronavirus had actually reached FL in any substantive way. Once it did, he was exposed as unprepared and unequipped for the moment, despite months of seeing the virus ravage NY and other states. But there are some very scared and hurting people in Florida, including many seniors, who do not have the benefit of being led by a governor who, though not perfect, took the virus very seriously. Cuomo may have meant to mock Trump, but like with most attacks, innocent people become collateral damage. Nearly four years of the Trump presidency have proven that he will never be a better, nobler man or leader than he was the day he took the oath. There is no hope for Trump; he is who he is. But just because Trump can’t rise up, doesn’t mean Cuomo should stoop down. There is a proverb that says, “don’t make a fool of yourself by arguing with a fool.” The truth is, when you argue with a fool, the people watching — in this case the whole world — don’t know which one is which. Cuomo would have been well served to follow another proverb that says, “sensible people earn respect by overlooking offenses.” It may be a quaint idea in this divisive and angry time in the country, but it is OK to let an attack go. Millions of people around the country respect, appreciate, and even love Andrew Cuomo for providing steady and sure-handed leadership during the scariest days of the pandemic. It’s so hard to earn near-universal respect. It can be lost in a single moment, or with a single tweet. Cuomo should seriously consider whether Trump is worth that. Trump is jealous of Cuomo. You don’t have to be a psychiatrist to figure that out. Both from Queens, both Manhattan outsiders, both sons of hard-charging, prominent, successful men. The similarities end right about there. Cuomo is a flawed individual — as are we all — but he has come into his own as a thoughtful, respected leader who knows when to use the carrot and when to take out the stick. He is competent and capable, smart and skillful. When both men were faced with a once-in-a-century crisis, Trump shrank; Cuomo stood strong. Trump knows it. Cuomo knows it. The whole world knows it.

Cuomo has nothing to lose and everything to gain by being gracious and not responding to Trump’s attacks in kind. Trump may be the President of the United States, but in New York, Cuomo is king.

Next: Read American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic by Andrew Cuomo — A Book Review.

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