When most people heard about the Cuomo Emmy it was considered New York liberal entertainment types just giving another liberal a useless award. But now it’s become a political football.

FNC: “A group of Republican New York State lawmakers appealed to the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences on Wednesday to vacate Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Emmy as a sign of ‘solidarity’ with the families impacted by the state’s nursing home scandal. ‘In a time when many people are disillusioned with our politics and our media, vacating Governor Cuomo’s Emmy would show the public that the academy stands against wrongdoing and injustice across the political spectrum,’ the letter read. It was signed by 10 assembly members. ‘I am hopeful you will vacate the Emmy [Cuomo] was given for these briefings to show him and the public that the actions he took to try to cover-up [sic] one of the most terrible tragedies our state has seen will not go without consequences,’  the letter sent on Wednesday stated, in part.” Though, the group sent it to the wrong entertainment award organization.

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“I was not aware there was a difference,” Assemblyman Chris Tague said. “If we find out it was the international [group] instead of national we’ll send the same letter to those folks as well. To me, I just don’t understand why someone that’s a public servant doing their job, why they should be rewarded with something we give to actors and actresses…”I didn’t think he was deserving of an Emmy,” Tague said at the time. “But I didn’t think it was a big deal.

“We’re now coming to find out that some of the information being discussed in his briefings may be discredited. And why would we give somebody celebrity status or give them notoriety for covering something up: the deaths of 15,000 New Yorkers. Which, I think, when we get things sorted out, the number will probably be higher.”

Cuomo hacks responded with double talk and a blame the messenger/change the subject distraction ploy. “While these politicians might have enough free time to write blustery letters and issue self-important press releases, our focus remains squarely on vaccinating as many people as humanly possible and leading the state through this public health crisis,” said Cuomo spokesman Jack Sterne. “New Yorkers have seen the governor show up and fight on their behalf every day for nearly a year, and that’s why they support his actions to defeat COVID by a large margin.”

The Emmy Awards also tried, unsuccessfully, to justify themselves. “The Governor’s 111 daily briefings worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines, and stories of success and failure,” Bruce Paisner, the academy’s CEO, said in a press release. “People around the world tuned in to find out what was going on, and New York tough became a symbol of the determination to fight back.” No they didn’t. It was a culturally and politically incestuous gambit to garner favor with Cuomo. It may be backfiring.