Progressive Fordham University law professor Zephyr Teachout is challenging Governor Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election, but you wouldn’t know that from his behavior toward her at Saturday’s Labor Day parade. In fact, you’d think that Cuomo had no idea who Teachout was, because he completely ignored her as she stood directly in front of him.
In a hilariously awkward video posted to New York True, a smiling Teachout maneuvers around paradegoers, aides, and journalists until she is less than an arm’s length away from Cuomo and his running mate, Kathy Hochul. The pair quickly turns their backs toward Teachout, who then taps Hochul on the arm. Hochul does not respond. Then, with Teachout still standing right there, Cuomo shouts, “Where’s the mayor?” at an approaching Bill de Blasio. “Where’s the mayor when you need him? We need the mayor!” Cuomo continues, his jokey tone failing to mask what sounds like genuine desperation. While also ignoring Teachout, de Blasio physically embraces Hochul and Cuomo.
Is the governor this petty, or just severely farsighted? Is the mayor angry that Teachout recently accused him of being a sellout for endorsing the relatively conservative Hochul? Were these powerful politicians simply reenacting a Mean Girls outtake? Teachout apparently decides that she doesn’t want to stick around to find out and walks away.
Shortly after, a WSJ reporter asked Cuomo about his morning:
Very classy.
