FLASHBACK: Leaked audio reveals Gov. Cuomo admitting that COVID-19 lockdowns are a 'fear-driven response'

In a leaked recording from October 2020, Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo can be heard saying that COVID-19 shutdowns affecting the New York Jewish community are "not a highly nuanced, sophisticated response" but instead a "fear-driven response."  

Cuomo met with New York Jewish leaders in October 2020, to discuss the hardships their community was facing amid the coronavirus pandemic. During the meeting he is heard admitting that shutdown mandates were "fear-driven" and "not the best way" to react to a rising infection rate.

“I’m a hundred percent frank and candid. This is not a highly nuanced, sophisticated response. This is a fear-driven response, you know. This is not a policy being written by a scalpel; this is a policy being cut by a hatchet," Cuomo explained.  

Cuomo added that anxiety-driven closures was "not the best way to do it."

"It’s out of fear. People see the numbers going up – ‘Close everything! Close everything!’ It’s not the best way to do it, but it is a fear-driven response. The virus scares people. Hopefully, we get the numbers down in the zip codes, the anxiety comes down, and then we can have a smarter, more-tailored approach," Cuomo continued.

Orthodox Jewish protests surged during October in New York in response to Cuomo's ordering the closure of "no-essential businesses," which included synagogues and other places of worship.

Cuomo's actions as a Governor directly contradict his stated sentiment in the recording, as he has ushered in some of the strictest lockdowns in the country along with other bizarre and harmful mandates in reaction to the pandemic's spread.

In March, Cuomo issued a policy that nursing homes could not turn away COVID-19 positive patients, which lead to a steep uptick in nursing home COVID-19 deaths on account of the fact that elderly nursing home residents are the most vulnerable to the virus.