Dr. Michael Osterholm Shoots Down Claim He Was a ‘Chief Advisor’ to Gov. Cuomo on Covid Policy: ‘That’s Absolutely Not True’

Infectious diseases expert and Biden Covid panel member Dr. Michael Osterholm directly refuted a claim by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration that he acted as a “chief advisor” and spoke regularly with the governor.

During an preview of an upcoming episode of Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, the noted epidemiologist was asked about his role in the Covid response policy of Cuomo, who has come under intense scrutiny and now a joint federal investigation over withholding information about nursing home deaths from the  federal government.

“You’ve been an advisor to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo since May, and Governor Cuomo is under investigation for his handling of nursing home health data,” Hoover noted. “What do you think of Governor Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic in general, and the nursing home issue in particular?”

“First of all, I haven’t had, not had anything to do with his nursing home activity at all,” Osterholm clarified. “I came on basically in early June only just to review data on a weekly basis; did it meet the standards that they had set?”

To further establish his indirect role in the state’s Covid response, Osterholm added: “I’ve had one, five-minute conversation in my entire life with Governor Cuomo, just a few weeks ago when he called me, just to congratulate me on a TV program appearance.”

Hoover picked up on the disconnect between Osterholm’s statement and the Cuomo administration’s claim about his role. This claim, that Osterholm “speaks regularly” with Cuomo, even made it into an early February report in the New York Times, which also detailed the exodus of health officials from the Cuomo administration.

“You said you’ve only spoken to Governor Cuomo once, but one of his top aides said that [Cuomo] spoke to you on a regular basis, that you were one of his top advisors,” Hoover pointed out.

“That’s absolutely not true,” Osterholm cut in. “Never true. I’ve had one, five-minute conversation, which was a surprise.”

“I have a paper trail of all of the emails,” he added. “All I ever was asked to do is did this meet the red, green, or yellow zone numbers? And that was it. I’ve never, I’ve not had a discussion with him and I’ve not met with any of them. I’ve never had a Zoom call with any of them.”

In a call with lawmakers, a top Cuomo aide called Dr. Michael Osterholm a “chief advisor” who spoke to the governor on a “regular basis.”

Osterholm counters this claim on @FiringLineShow:

“I’ve had one five-minute conversation my entire life with Governor Cuomo,” he says. pic.twitter.com/ljd1qbR8G5

— Firing Line with Margaret Hoover (@FiringLineShow) February 18, 2021