Gov. Andrew Cuomo Cancels Thanksgiving with His 89-Year-Old Mother After Backlash

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 23: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during the daily media briefing
Jeenah Moon/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has canceled Thanksgiving plans with his 89-year-old mother and two of his daughters after facing a wave of backlash following his pleas for New Yorkers to limit their holiday plans and “stay away” from their loved ones.

On Monday, Cuomo, who has been pleading with New Yorkers to avoid nonessential gatherings and celebrate the holiday with only those in their immediate household, told WAMC-FM that he planned to gather with his 89-year-old mother and two of his daughters on Thanksgiving.

“The story is, my mom is going to come up and two of my girls,” the governor told the station. “But the plans change. But that’s my plan”:

A week earlier, Cuomo described a difficult conversation he had with his elderly mother, contending that he told her, “Mom, we can’t get together for Thanksgiving.”

His Monday admission drew a wave of backlash, as Cuomo has instituted further coronavirus restrictions, including limiting gatherings at private residences to ten people, maximum.

Last week, Cuomo instructed New Yorkers to “stay away” from their loved ones.

“Your safe zone is not your safe zone. Your safe zone is dangerous this year. Please. Love is sometimes doing what’s hard. This year, if you love someone, it is smarter and better to stay away,” he said:

Predictably, his Thanksgiving plans drew backlash, given his insistence that New Yorkers need to drastically modify their own holiday plans:

That same day, a senior adviser to Cuomo told Business Insider that the governor modified his plans:

“As the Governor said, ‘The story is my mom is going to come up and two of my girls is the current plan, but the plans change. That’s my plan. I’m going to work — I’ve got a lot of work to do between now and Thanksgiving,’ and given the current circumstances with COVID, he will have to work through Thanksgiving and will not be seeing them,” Azzopardi told Insider in a statement early Monday evening.

“Don’t tell his mom — she doesn’t know yet,” he added.

Earlier Monday, Cuomo revealed that his out-of-state daughter would not come over for Thanksgiving to keep families “safe”:

On Sunday, Cuomo warned that certain areas of New York City could soon enter the most restrictive “red” zone, which prohibits “non-essential gatherings of any size.”

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