CLAY & BUCK: Cuomo Won’t Go Easily

C&B discuss the embattled Governor from New York and the likelihood that he will go quietly. Read the full transcript over at ClayAndBuck.com.

CLAY: So, Buck, you’re pretty plugged in in New York circles. Do you believe that Andrew Cuomo is going to resign? Do you think there’s the any way he’ll be forced out, impeached? If you were setting odds, is he still governor at the end of the year?

BUCK: I think there’s very little chance, as I said yesterday, that he will resign. Almost no chance.

CLAY: Yeah.

BUCK: I think the Democrat legislature is unlikely — I’d give it a less than 50-50 shot — to take action against him, and so that’s why. And I know people will say, “Oh, what about this Democrat who says this is going too far?” You gotta think about a few things here, all right? Cuomo… First of all, baseline, Democrat politicians have no principles that they have to defend. It’s about power. It doesn’t matter.

And you see this with Biden and the eviction moratorium in the CDC where, “We’re gonna do it because we can do it,” becomes the operative principle. That’s all that they care about — and they want to do it. That’s what matters. But you look at the power dynamics in New York state, let’s take a peek at them for a second here. Governor Cuomo comes from a very connected and powerful family.

He has a whole lot of not just favors to call in, but also pressure to put on people in the New York state political system. This is probably it more than anything else: What is the incentive for a guy like him who is clearly a somewhat deluded sociopath, what is the incentive for him to step down? What does he get other than an ignominious end? It’s the downfall of the dynasty.

At least in his mind, if they have to force him out, he can always say, “I was wrongly accused, it was exaggerated, it was a political hit.” It’s like if you take a plea bargain, you’re guilty. You go to jail and you fought it all the way through court, you at least get to say, “I’m an innocent man,” which we know a lot of people in prison continue to say (chuckles) no matter what the evidence is against them.

Listen to the segment: Cuomo Won’t Go Easily