New York lawmaker attacks the wrong Cuomo as he pushes to rename bridge

The New York Republican is being accused of mixing up Andrew and Mario Cuomo as he sells “No Cuomo”-emblazoned merch

Mike Lawler, Republican candidate for New York's 17th Congressional District, greets supporters during an election night party on November 9, 2022 (AP)

New York Republican Mike Lawler is fighting to strip the Cuomo name from a bridge spanning the Hudson River — and one of his recent attacks is taking some heat for targeting the wrong member of the political dynasty.

The freshman congressman went after former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after a barrage of sexual harassment allegations, as part of his push to rename the bridge, formerly known as the Tappan Zee.

“Three years ago today, former Governor Cuomo resigned in disgrace. Yet his name is still on the Tappan Zee Bridge!” Lawler wrote on X on Sunday, August 25.

The problem? The bridge was actually renamed after the disgraced lawmaker’s father, Mario Cuomo, who served as the state’s governor from 1983 to 1994.

“We must rename the bridge - get your No Cuomo merch today!” Lawler added, posting a black T-shirt featuring a graphic of the bridge surrounded by the words: “No Cuomo! Bring back the Tappan Zee!” His re-election campaign website also offers a variety of “No Cuomo” merch, including, but not limited to, beverage coolers, bumper stickers, and mugs.

Andrew Cuomo renamed the bridge in honor of his late father in 2018 after more spans of the bridge were created to ease traffic. A Justice Department investigation found in January that the former governor sexually harassed 13 employees while in office. Cuomo, however, has always denied the allegations against him.

Mike Lawler’s campaign is selling ‘No Cuomo’ merch despite potentially going after the wrong Cuomo (Lawler for Congress)

Former Democratic Rep Mondaire Jones called out Lawler for his misleading post. Jones, who held New York’s 17th congressional seat before Lawler and is now running to retake it, posted on X: “If Mike Lawler is willing to lie about the name of an iconic bridge with large lettering on it, why should Lower Hudson Valley residents trust him not to vote for a national abortion ban?”

Social media users also pointed out that Lawler seemed to confuse the two Cuomos.

“The bridge is named after Mario Cuomo you moron,” one user wrote.

“You’re a culture war loser! Wrong Cuomo,” another chimed in.

Lawler replied to Jones in another tweet on Tuesday: “Folks know the difference between Andrew and Mario… but good to see you defending Cuomo’s corrupt push to put his family name on the bridge.”

A spokesperson for Republican congressman directed The Independent to Lawler’s Tuesday tweet, adding: “It’s quite obvious he was referring to the Cuomo name being on the bridge.”

Indeed, the New York Republican’s past actions do indicate that he’s well aware the bridge was named after Mario Cuomo. While in the New York State Assembly, Lawler sponsored a 2021 bill that aims to rename “the Governor Mario M. Cuomo bridge the Tappan Zee bridge.”

A spokesperson for the the former governor told The Independent that he believed Lawler’s tactic was not effective.

“We got used to this type of grifty sub-MAGA used car salesman-ship when he ran Rob Astorino’s doomed campaign for governor against Governor Cuomo, but it isn’t going to help lower a single grocery or tax bill in the Hudson Valley,” Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Andrew Cuomo, told The Independent in a statement. “At least he seems to have given up on trying to convince people he’s some sort of serious bipartisan legislator, so points for that I guess.”