One of the most common criticisms of Donald Trump is regarding his “comb over.” He is often referred to as “Orange Hair.” Donald Trump clearly likes his hair, and he likes the way people refer to it. It is, in many ways, his trademark. I think most of his critics fail to understand that the more they complain about his hair, the more he likes it. In fact, the more people trash him, the more he enjoys the fight. He just fights back because Donald Trump actually enjoys fighting back. It is like the professional ballplayer who thrives on getting booed when he plays in a competitive ballpark. The player welcomes the boo’s because he considers them recognition of his power. Donald Trump has exactly that kind of personality. What he really fears is being ignored.
In many cases a comb over is considered to be a failed attempt to cover up baldness. As someone who is follically challenged, I understand the appeal of the comb over. But I also realize that most people are not impressed, so never bothered. I am also not sure I ever had enough hair to come close to pulling this off. In this case we have a Cuomo over, where the most powerful Governor in the United States, one of the most powerful men in the world, just resigned. Not only did he resign, but the White House Secretary, Jen Psaki, just kicked him on the way down. Some are slightly more kind, but absolutely no one is offering a hint of support.
Last Monday, August 2, 2021, few predicted that Cuomo would even consider resigning. Even after Letitia James released her report last Tuesday, on August 3, 2021, Andrew Cuomo arrogantly announced that he wasn’t even considering resigning. Perhaps there have been other politicians who suffered a similar fall from grace, but I can’t remember one. There are numerous reports that a lot of people secretly despised Andrew Cuomo, they just put up with him because they feared him. He has an apparently well-earned reputation of being brutal toward anyone who dared even pretend to challenge him. We have all seen movies or TV shows about politicians who are complete jerks in real life. People who can be charming and appealing during public appearances but who are selfish and arrogant and absolutely ruthless when the camera is off. We just seldom see someone like this in real life humiliated in such a public way.
Andrew Cuomo is probably a case study in narcissism. One could argue that almost every major political figure is afflicted by some level of narcissism. Donald Trump is clearly a narcissist who hated being challenged. But there was one important difference. Trump is a self-made man, who built a world-wide business empire. He was filthy rich and entitled before he became President, and he is still filthy rich after being President. His lifestyle may actually be more exuberant as a former President than it was as President. He wanted to be President, but he did not need to be President. While Trump was clearly humiliated at losing the election, he does not consider himself to be a loser.
Cuomo, on the other hand, is not rich. His net worth is estimated at about $6 million, and he may spend a lot of that on legal fees over the next few years. He doesn’t even own a house, his previous residence in the Hamptons was technically purchased by his former girlfriend. This means that in addition to the public humiliation, Cuomo may suffer personal financial humiliation. In addition, there is the personal humiliation. He instantly went overnight from being a class “A” celebrity, everyone wanted at their party, to being someone no one wants to invite to anything.
He probably does not realize the full extent of this yet. During his resignation speech he continued to be arrogant and is clearly under the illusion that someone is still listening to him. He would have been smarter to say nothing more than that he resigned, and he didn’t want to continue to be a distraction. But he could not bring himself to do that. The result is that in addition to the very public humiliation, Cuomo may suffer a far more painful fall from grace regarding his personal life. That makes him extremely dangerous. Numerous professional psychologists warn about what happens when an extreme narcissist is confronted with this kind of defeat. These people feel they are entitled, and it is apparently difficult, if not impossible, for them to accept the reality of such humiliation. Some resort to rage and some have even resorted to violence.
This reminds me of Jeffrey Epstein. When he was convicted and sentenced to jail a lot of people were horrified because Jeffrey knew where a lot of bodies were buried. Andrew Cuomo was the Governor of New York and had access to information the rest of us cannot even imagine. I used to know someone who was very highly connected with the Los Angeles County Prosecutor’s Office. He once told me the most valuable file on earth was the Los Angeles and Hollywood Police stop reports. These were the reports where people were stopped and questioned by the police, but not necessarily arrested or prosecuted. He told me about a couple examples, and they were beyond mind blowing. It was easy to understand why the people involved would have done almost anything to prevent these from becoming public. If you want an example of something that is known, reflect on when Mel Gibson was stopped for drunk driving. When the video of that was released, his career never completely recovered.
It will be very interesting to watch what happens next. Some assume that the New York Assembly will still impeach Cuomo, but odds are a lot of them just want him to go, quietly. He will be moving from the Governor’s Mansion, a very secure place, to somewhere else, probably undisclosed. He will be encouraged to just keep his pension, keep his security detail, and keep his mouth closed. But the question is whether he is willing or even capable of doing that. This man is very angry, and he honestly believes he did nothing wrong, and this was all politically motivated. He is 63 years old, recently one of the most powerful men on the planet, destined to not only lose power, but to be ignored. It is hard to imagine a future for Andrew Cuomo that would come close to appealing to his enormous ego. It is even harder to imagine him just accepting this. It is far from clear that Andrew Cuomo is remotely capable of admitting, even to himself, doing anything wrong. He certainly is incapable of viewing this as remotely fair.
So, while the Cuomo over is nearly complete, there may be a lot more to the story. His resignation takes effect on August 24th. We can guarantee there will be a lot of “negotiating” during that time. But there is a problem. No one can offer Cuomo what he desperately wants and needs, a future where he retains some level of relevance. As I wrote previously the one thing for certain is that Cuomo will never consider doing the right thing for the right reason. He will make decisions, like this one, only when he is left with no viable option. A lot of people know this and some of them just may be terrified.
This reminds me of one of my favorite cartoons. It is a picture of a pool of quicksand, with a hand sticking up “flipping the bird.” The caption says: “There goes an angry young man.” Soon you may just reproduce the same cartoon with this caption: “There goes Andrew Cuomo.”
TDM