Andrew Cuomo, like Bill Clinton or Jeffrey Epstein, was enabled by plenty of women.

Now that he agreed to resign and make way for Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, the same media that plugged Cuomo is working hard to build up Hochul’s image as a courageous crusader who will turn the page on the Cuomo era.

Hochul claimed that she and Cuomo “have not been close – physically or otherwise”, that she’s going to change the “toxic” culture and fight like hell for New Yorkers “like I’ve always done and always will”.

Cliched stump speech aside, Hochul spent 6 years in that same “toxic” culture and did nothing and said nothing.

“The people of the state of New York elected me to be a partner to Gov. Cuomo,” she argued in the last election.

She refused to comment on any of the allegations until it was painfully clear that Cuomo had become toxic. She refused to say anything as winter made way for spring and Politico was reduced to psychoanalyzing her refusal to mention Cuomo as evidence that she’s breaking with him.

During the debate, Hochul claimed that, “as a strong woman I do not do what men to tell me to do. I am an independent, strong woman and always have been.”

There was zero evidence of that.

When she was asked in that same debate, “Can you describe an instance over the last four years working with Governor Cuomo where, perhaps, you’ve changed his mind or you’ve told him, privately or publicly, that you disagree with the path the state’s heading on and got something done as a result of that?”

Hochul’s reply was that any disagreements she had with Cuomo had to be private to be effective, but that “Cuomo respects me as a strong woman.”

The new governor’s paradox embodies that of New York Democrats who insist at the same time that Cuomo’s misbehavior was widespread and that none of them knew anything about it. Considering how public some of it was, that’s hard to believe.

It’s equally hard to believe that Hochul really didn’t know. 

Governor Hochul kept claiming to be a strong and independent woman even while working for Cuomo. She insisted she was independent, yet couldn’t manage to disagree with him. And she said nothing until it was clear that Cuomo’s goose was cooked.

There’s nothing strong or independent about that.

But that’s not just true of Hochul, it’s true of her entire party.