How Cuomo’s Pandemic Response Eroded the Public Trust

Dishonesty and fearmongering makes the public tune out experts and leaders.

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There is much that we have lost during the coronavirus pandemic: loved ones, jobs, freedoms, schools and workplaces, togetherness. But perhaps the most overlooked loss, a virtue essential to fighting the next pandemic, is trust.

The bonds of trust between the public and those in charge of protecting us in the present crisis are fraying. It is not hard to see why.

Dr. Anthony Fauci downplayed the importance of masking early on out of fear front-line health care workers would run out of them, despite their ubiquitous use in Asian countries during prior SARS epidemics. Last July, Dr. Mark Escott, the interim health director in Austin, Texas, warned that up to 1,370 kids could die in his county alone if schools opened with no precautions, even though fewer than than 100 kids under 18 had died from COVID-19 in the entire country—among hundreds of thousands of school-aged cases. Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered Californians to remain locked down for a year, including prohibitions on even outdoor restaurant dining, while he himself dined out at French Laundry. President Donald Trump admitted to Bob Woodward that he downplayed the severity of the virus out of fear he would cause a panic. The list goes on.

Each of these examples show that political and public health elites do not trust the public with the truth and to make sound decisions as a result. They lecture us like modern-day Colonel Jessups: “You can’t handle the truth!” 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Jason Gibson

    There is so much to discuss about how people reacted. It was public knowledge that Cuomo put out the order in march of 2020 to force nursing homes to accept covid positive patients. And he got a complete pass on that from nearly everyone.

    There is a big problem with how the media handled the situation. The majority of outlets became almost a mouthpiece for the government policy. While the fringe outlets became disseminators of conspiracy theories.

    The lack of trust was almost across the board for me.

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  2. IR

    I’ve never understood the reasoning given by Dr. Fauci for not recommending masks early in the pandemic. The truly protective masks (N95) were not available to the public early in the pandemic, anyways. As the appointed spokesman during the pandemic, Dr. Fauci should have encouraged the use by the public of all masks except N95. Many hospitals became creative in conserving masks and many provided (the best they could) adequate PPE for staff.
    The loss of trust will be impossible to be measured, but I’m certain that recommending no masks, followed by recommending one mask and then recommending 2 masks had quite a negative profound effect on the population.
    There is no doubt that Dr. Fauci caused a lot of confusion and further distrust of the elites!

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    1. Avatar photo
      Narwhal

      “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” moment mishandled.

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    Mudskipper

    "Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered Californians to remain locked down for a year, including prohibitions on even outdoor restaurant dining, while he himself dined out at French Laundry."

    Sigh. Your facts are wrong. California was not locked down for an entire year. Restrictions were relaxed or tightened based on a county's case numbers. In my county, for example, we were able to eat outside at restaurants for a good part of the summer and into fall. Inside dining was even allowed at some point.

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    BrettH

    Nice piece, enjoyed the read, thanks Gregg. I’ve been dealing with government regulators most of my professional career and it’s fair to say that I don’t hold many government officials, elected or otherwise, in very high regard. To quote Ron Swanson: Government is the biggest waste of taxpayer money.

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  5. Daniel Rabiner

    "Dr. Anthony Fauci downplayed the importance of masking early on out of fear front-line health care workers would run out of them, despite their ubiquitous use in Asian countries during prior SARS epidemics."

    I'm sorry but there was a shortage of PPE and masks for healthcare workers at the beginning of the pandemic. So this is a completely absurd statement. My wife, who works directly with dialysis patients, was given 1 mask per week to use. I know many nurses who had to stretch safety protocols due to shortages so to say his fear was misguided is just plainly wrong.

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      Luke Thompson (not that one)

      The section you quoted doesn't say his fear was misguided. Fauci didn't say "we don't want to run out of masks." He said "masks don't work," in spite of the fact that he knew they did (in part due to their use in Asian countries previously).

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      1. Daniel Rabiner

        I didn't say anything about his fear. I'm saying that there weren't enough masks in early 2020 and that has nothing to do with Asian countries and prior SARS outbreaks.

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      Richard Maxton

      It's not an absurd statement. It's the truth. Instead of being honest with America about why he was suggesting we not mask up, he lied and insisted we didn't need to use them. Noble lies are still lies, and I, at least, won't hand-wave it away by saying he meant well.

      We are not children, Daniel. We are adults and should be treated as such. I work directly with cancer patients daily and I too was given limited supplies to use. If the government really was that concerned, it could have commandeered the supplies until the various options that became available were ready.

      Instead, our "leaders" chose to lie to us to "protect us from ourselves", and it back-fired on them when everyone started up with the politicizing mask wearing nonsense. There is a direct line between Fauci's early mask talking points and this decision.

      (There should also be discussions about whether its a "good" decision to use just-in-time supply ordering when it comes to PPE in a healthcare setting. These are not supplies with a short-term "use by" period. But that's a discussion for another time.)

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      1. Daniel Rabiner

        Actually it is an absurd statement. What does the ubiquitous use of masks in Asian countries during prior SARS epidemics have anything to do with the supply of masks in the United States in early 2020?

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    Dpatricola

    This time last year I tuned into his lunchtime broadcasts multiple times a week. He came off so confident and in control (which is how elected leaders should be in times of crisis). I won't say I feel bamboozled by all of the nursing home information he was hiding, but this article hits home well that he has betrayed a lot of public trust. Whether he stays or goes isn't up to me, as I'm not a NYS resident, but I feel he should stop down.

    Meanwhile, 900 miles south, I was burning Gov. DeSantis in effigy for his, at the time, aloof handling and response to the pandemic and he's been coming out of this smelling a bit more rosy.

    To quote Michael Scott, "My, how the turntables have."

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  7. Tim Johnson

    Totally agree on the honesty aspect: Whenever government shades the truth to protect us, it doesn't come out well.

    That said: I heard from so many friends and relatives who tuned into Cuomo's daily Covid briefings because he was providing what was so sorely lacking: leadership.

    I still think he should be removed from office based on what we know now, but don't underestimate the power of the bully pulpit to help people cope with an an emergency like this - and in the future, we should DEMAND it from our NATIONAL leaders.

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    Narwhal

    “But perhaps the most overlooked loss, a virtue essential to fighting the next pandemic, is trust.

    The bonds of trust between the public and those in charge of protecting us in the present crisis are fraying. It is not hard to see why.”

    Well said. But, it isn’t just essential for dealing with the next pandemic.

    “Dr. Anthony Fauci downplayed the importance of masking early on out of fear front-line health care workers would run out of them, despite their ubiquitous use in Asian countries during prior SARS epidemics. Last July, Dr. Mark Escott, the interim health director in Austin, Texas, warned that up to 1,370 kids could die in his county alone if schools opened with no precautions, even though fewer than than 100 kids under 18 had died from COVID-19 in the entire country—among hundreds of thousands of school-aged cases. Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered Californians to remain locked down for a year, including prohibitions on even outdoor restaurant dining, while he himself dined out at French Laundry. President Donald Trump admitted to Bob Woodward that he downplayed the severity of the virus out of fear he would cause a panic. The list goes on.”

    When you treat your citizenry as children don’t be surprised when they throw tantrums.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Richard Maxton

      "When you treat your citizenry as children don’t be surprised when they throw tantrums."

      --YES YES YES YES YES YES YES. That this has to pointed out to people says something about where we are. That something is not good.

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      Victor Clairmont

      I know, just be honest for gods sakes.

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