Joe Biden’s aides were furious that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a self-serving video for the 2020 Democratic National Convention and asked his camp to redo it — but they refused, a new book says.
“Every four years, Democrats asked themselves the same question about the New York governor and former Housing and Urban Development secretary: ‘How is Andrew Cuomo going to f- -k us this time?’’ write the authors of “Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency.’’
At the convention four years earlier, Cuomo had jarred on “for double his allotted time,’’ while his team refused to participate in fact-checking sessions beforehand, the book says.
Then last year, when Cuomo “was supposed to use his credibility to explain why Biden had the best plan for dealing with the pandemic,’’ he instead “recorded something of a tribute to himself,’’ write authors Jonathan Allen of NBC News and Amie Parnes of The Hill.
Cuomo’s team had sent over the video the day of the convention, the tome says.
The governor boasted in the clip, “We climbed the impossible mountain, and right now, we are on the other side.’’
He didn’t utter Biden’s name until 4 minutes and 50 seconds into the video — which was 5 minutes long, the book notes.
“The convention’s speechwriting squad watched in disbelief,’’ the authors write.
“They asked Cuomo’s aides to refilm it. The answer came back: No.’’
A source involved in the convention’s production said of Cuomo’s camp, “They put the speech on our doorstep, lit it on fire, rang the doorbell, and then ran away.”
The authors add, “Cuomo was much more of a headache for Democrats than any of the four Republicans who spoke on the first night — former Ohio governor John Kasich, former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman, former New York representative Susan Molinari and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman.’’
Reps for Cuomo did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment Tuesday on the book’s claims.
Cuomo is now in the fight of his political life amid sex-harassment allegations.
-Additional reporting by Bernadette Hogan
