Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday night revealed his strategy for convincing “cynical” New Yorkers to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic — laying out all the facts, however grim, at his daily press briefings.
The governor explained on “The Daily Show” that his open-book style that has made his daily briefings must-see TV is crucial to getting New Yorkers to buy into the state’s strict mitigation efforts.
“If New Yorkers had said, ‘No, I’m not doing it’ — and New Yorkers are a defiant bunch — I would have been powerless,” Cuomo told host Trevor Noah. “I can’t enforce a stay-at-home order for 19 million people.
“And they are smart and they are cynical. If they don’t believe you or you haven’t made your argument, or you haven’t laid out the facts, they’re not going to do it.”
“The ability to have a plan was purely dependent on New Yorkers buying in,” Cuomo said.
“I am not there to filter, I am not there to manipulate. Here’s the situation, here are the facts, I’m going to tell you everything I know,” he said, adding there’s “no sugarcoating it.”
The governor on March 20 ordered sweeping measures that shut down all non-essential business across the state and banned non-solitary outdoor activities.
The mitigation efforts — dubbed “New York State on Pause” — went into effect on March 22 and are still ongoing.
New York has seen over 257,000 coronavirus cases, as of Wednesday, with 15,302 deaths from the disease.