クオモＮＹ州知事、人気に陰り　介護施設の死者数隠ぺい疑惑浮上

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】米ニューヨーク州のアンドルー・クオモ知事は昨春、同州を襲った新型コロナウイルスの危機対応において、矛盾した発言を繰り返したドナルド・トランプ前大統領とは対照的な、率直な語り口と共感的な態度が国中から称賛された。（写真は米ニューヨーク州のアンドルー・クオモ知事）
　だが、それから１年近くが過ぎ、トランプ氏が大統領の職を退任した今、３期目の任期を務めるクオモ氏の人気にも陰りが出てきたようだ。ニューヨーク州の介護施設での新型ウイルスによる死者数をめぐる問題について、クオモ氏がどこまで把握していたのかという疑問が生じている。
　同州の介護施設での新型ウイルスによる死者数は、これまで８５００人あまりとされていた。だが、州司法長官は先月、州政府が死者数を数千人単位で過少報告していると指摘する報告書を公表した。これを受け、州は介護施設での死者数を１万５０００人以上へと修正した。
　クオモ氏の側近は先週、民主党議員らとの電話会議で、州政府はトランプ政権下の司法省による調査を恐れ、死者数を抑えたと認めた。
　クオモ氏は１５日、州政府の情報開示に遅れがあったと初めて認め、遅延が「懐疑と不信感と陰謀論を助長し、混乱を深めた」と述べた。だが、謝罪はせず、隠ぺい疑惑は否定した。
　民主党が実権を握るニューヨーク州議会は、感染が拡大していた昨年３月にクオモ氏に付与された、特別権限を見直すと警告している。
　シエナ大学研究所が１６日に発表した調査によると、クオモ氏の対応を評価するとしたニューヨークの住民は５１％と、先月の５６％から低下した。
　ニューヨーク州立大学バッファロー校のジェイコブ・ナイハイゼル准教授は、クオモ氏の「人気はかなり落ちた」とし、広く称賛されてきた同氏の新型ウイルス対応に対する「再評価」がされていると指摘した。
　トランプ氏は新型ウイルス対応で、政府の対策チームの専門家と相反する発言を繰り返し、混乱を招いた。一方、クオモ氏の定例会見は信頼感と安心感を与えるもので、各局のニュースで定番となり、多くの人が視聴した
　サラ・ローレンス・カレッジのサム・エイブラムス教授（政治学）は、ニューヨークの政治家として４０年のキャリアを持ち、元州知事の故マリオ・クオモ氏を父に持つクオモ現知事は「威張っており、尊大」だと考えられていたが、トランプ氏に比べると「優れた政治家で、思慮深く力強い指導者だった」と述べた。
　一部の研究者は、現在のクオモ氏の人気下落は、トランプ氏の退任と関係していると指摘している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/02/18-11:41）

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's straight-talking and empathetic approach to the coronavirus crisis raging in his state earned him national adoration last spring, contrasting sharply with the often-confusing mixed messages from former President Donald Trump.
But almost a year on, and with Trump no longer in office, Cuomo's star appears to be fading as he faces increasing scrutiny over what he knew about the death toll inside New York's nursing homes.
The three-term governor has come under growing pressure in recent months over his government's management of the pandemic with regards to retirement homes -- where more than 15,000 New Yorkers have died from Covid-19.
His administration was forced to revise that number up from 8,500 care home residents lost to coronavirus after a New York state prosecutor report last month said the government had underestimated the count of those killed by several thousand.
Late last week, Cuomo's top aide admitted in a call with Democratic lawmakers that the state had withheld data because it feared an investigation by Trump's justice department.
Cuomo admitted for the first time Monday that his government had been slow to offer data, saying the delay fueled skepticism and cynicism, and conspiracy theories which furthered the confusion.
He stopped short of apologizing and denied accusations of a cover-up, but the affair is causing pressure from fellow lawmakers and denting his popularity.
The Democratically controlled state legislature is threatening to withdraw expanded executive powers granted to Cuomo as the pandemic first engulfed New York in March.
Meanwhile a survey released by the Siena College Research Institute Tuesday found that 51 percent of New Yorkers approve of Cuomo's performance, down from 56 percent last month.
The star has fallen quite a bit, said Jacob Neiheisel, a professor of political science at the University of Buffalo, noting that a reappraisal of Cuomo's widely lauded handling of the pandemic is taking place.
Cuomo's daily briefings became essential viewing on TV networks as Americans tuned in for his authoritative but reassuring manner as Trump sowed confusion by contradicting his own health experts.
Sam Abrams, a political science professor at Sarah Lawrence College, said Americans turned to local leaders as confidence in the federal government plummeted.
Even though Cuomo -- a New York political figure for 40 years and the son of late Governor Mario Cuomo -- was considered a bully and arrogant, he was a statesman, a thoughtful and bold leader compared to Trump, added Abrams.
Some experts link his current popularity decline to Trump's exit from the White House.
- A fourth term? -
We now have an administration in Washington that is able to reckon with Covid in an earnest way, to listen to the science and to communicate effectively, said Columbia University politics expert Lincoln Mitchell.
I don't know anyone, even in New York or Washington, who watches his briefings anymore, he added.
Cuomo, not known for his modesty, also endured flak for publishing American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic in October, with the pandemic far from over.
It was absurd, said Mitchell
Cuomo isn't the only state-level Democrat who appears to be paying the price for the return to a rational, science-based approach in the White House.
Gavin Newsom -- the governor of California, where the pandemic has raged in recent weeks after largely being brought under control in the spring -- has seen his popularity drop too, Abrams noted.
At the height of Cuomo mania last year, some Democrats suggested he should replace Biden on the presidential ticket. Others talked about him being a future attorney general.
Now commentators are wondering whether Cuomo's current troubles will encourage Democratic left-wingers, with whom he has frequently clashed, to challenge him in the primaries if he runs for a fourth term in 2022.
His father ran for three terms and lost for his fourth term. I think there's part of Andrew Cuomo that wants to do one better than his father, said Mitchell.
He's a very powerful, smart, effective politician so he'll probably get re-elected if he runs again.