Teachout & Cuomo: The Prequel



Zephyr Teachout’s attempt to say hello to Andrew Cuomo at the Labor Day Parade on Saturday September 6th, drew a great deal of negative attention for Governor Cuomo.  Cuomo later denied seeing Teachout or deliberately ignoring her, but in this newly published video Cuomo appears to notice Teachout and advise his chief aide of Teachout’s presence.

Posted below is a clip slightly longer than the clip I published in September.  In this expanded clip Cuomo appears to notice Teachout and advise his campaign manager of her presence, notwithstanding his later denials of seeing her.  This expanded clip begins, at :05, with Cuomo turning to his right to pose for a picture with a man in a black shirt.  As Cuomo turns he briefly glances past the man (at about :07) and then poses for a picture.  At about :11 the camera moves somewhat unsteadily left (I was taking still photos with my right hand as the video camera was in my left hand) and Zephyr Teachout is visible in the back left of the frame, in the direction that Cuomo glanced seconds earlier.  (Behind the man in the black shirt is a man in a blue shirt and tie, behind him is Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, behind her is Cuomo spokesman Matt Wing in a brown shirt and behind him is Teachout.  Tim Wu is between Wing and Teachout, but somewhat to their right.)  At about :21 the picture taking is complete and Cuomo turns back toward the center and leans in to his campaign manager, Joe Percoco.  It’s difficult to hear what Cuomo says to Percoco, but it sounds like “Teachout is there.”  Percoco replies “I know” along with something else which is inaudible and Cuomo says “let’s go.”  Percoco then returns to his efforts at getting the parade started.  At :43 Teachout emerges from the crowd and says hello to Percoco – this is where my original clip began – and begins her unsuccessful attempt at saying hello to Cuomo and Kathy Hochul.

Cuomo was asked about their encounter at three consecutive press conferences; that afternoon at a press conference in Flushing, at a press conference the next day following a Riverdale rally for State Senator Jeff Klein and on that Monday following a GOTV rally at the midtown headquarters of the Hotel Trades Council.  When first asked about their encounter Cuomo rejected the notion that he had deliberately avoided Teachout but did not expressly deny seeing her, saying “I know she was at the parade but I didn’t get a chance to talk to her.”  When asked the next day if he was “trying to not meet them or ignore them in any way” Cuomo replied “No, I was there to march in the Labor Day Parade and that’s what I did.”  In his third and final answer Cuomo referred to the commotion as “silliness” and said that “I didn’t see her at the Saturday parade … I never saw her … I did not see her.”  Here are his three answers: