Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean Monday called it “jaw-dropping” and “sickening” for Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to be accepting an Emmy Award after his actions during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s jaw-dropping, it’s insulting, it’s sickening to see him accept an award for his leadership that we don’t have answers to when it comes to the coronavirus patients going into nursing homes for 46 days because of his executive order,” Dean told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”
The International Emmy Awards announced Friday that Cuomo would be honored with the “International Emmy Founders Award in recognition of his leadership during the Covid19 pandemic & his masterful use of TV to inform & calm people around the world.” (RELATED: Janice Dean Wonders If Andrew Cuomo’s Emmy Will Include ‘In Memoriam’ Section For Nursing Homes)
Dean lost both of her in-laws to coronavirus while they resided in New York nursing homes. Dean has previously criticized Cuomo’s March 25 nursing home order that sent thousands of coronavirus patients into assisted-living facilities in New York. The order was only rescinded May 11.
The Fox News regular said Monday that she thought it would be difficult for Cuomo to surprise her more than after he recently released a book on leadership principles. “He’s been on a self-congratulations tour to all of the television and radio stations talking about his leadership and how he flattened the curve here in New York City as cases rise.”
Dean said she has never received any personal communication from Cuomo in response to her criticism of him. “I did get a response from his office … on Friday and his office asked when my husband’s parents died, the exact dates and what nursing homes they were in. That’s the only response I’ve ever gotten and to me that’s a question of ‘Prove it to us that your husband’s parents died.’ How insulting,” she told Fox.
Dean had called for an independent investigation into New York’s nursing home crisis. She suggested a federal investigation was in order after Cuomo rejected an investigation because he said it would be merely “political” in focus. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: New York Admits Knowingly Undercounting Nursing Home Deaths After Quietly Changing Reporting Rules)
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo delivers remarks on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Riverside Church in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., Nov. 15, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
But Dean says her criticism of Cuomo has nothing to do with politics. “I have heard from so many families that are suffering this holiday season because they don’t have their loved ones … This is not political, by the way, I have never been a political person. The only reason I’m speaking out is because we aren’t getting those answers, and the media needs to hold this governor accountable instead of giving him awards.”
Cuomo has largely dismissed criticism of his nursing home policies — including the Justice Department’s inquiry into his March 25th nursing home order as politically motivated.