Fox News has brought on a former senior aide to Andrew Cuomo, who has acknowledged being involved in the cover-up of nursing home deaths in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Melissa DeRosa is set to become a contributor and co-host for a new podcast titled “The Girls,” launching on October 1, as announced by Fox News Media in a Monday press release. DeRosa worked in Cuomo’s administration until she resigned in August 2021 amidst allegations of the governor’s inappropriate behavior towards female employees.
Earlier that same year, DeRosa confessed during a conference call with Democratic lawmakers that the Cuomo administration had hidden the true count of nursing home deaths out of concern that Donald Trump would politicize the issue, potentially triggering a federal investigation.
“He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes,” DeRosa stated, according to the New York Post. “He begins targeting [then-New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, then [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, and [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer.”
DeRosa also expressed uncertainty about what information to divulge to the Department of Justice amidst fears of an investigation. “We weren’t sure if what we would provide to the DOJ, or discuss with you, would be used against us,” she explained.
She took the time to apologize to lawmakers for their difficult situation, saying, “I understand the political position you’ve been put in. I know it isn’t fair, and it wasn’t our intention to create that dilemma for you with the Republicans,” as reported by the New York Post.
In 2020, the Daily Caller News Foundation revealed that New York had left out a significant number of COVID-19-related deaths from reports concerning nursing homes and adult care facilities. A subsequent report from the New York State Assembly in 2021 indicated that Cuomo had actively altered the Department of Health’s figures to significantly underreport nursing home COVID-19 deaths.
While officials had knowledge that approximately 10,000 died in nursing homes, the official reports indicated a lower figure of 6,500.
DeRosa has often criticized left-leaning Democrats, labeling candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as “parasites.”
“They can’t win on their own by forming their own party, so they’ll cling to the Democratic Party, feeding off it with the aim of eventually taking it over,” she remarked in June.
Additionally, DeRosa portrays herself as a Democrat who believes that the party’s left wing has crossed unacceptable lines regarding Israel.
She criticized Mamdani in January after he condemned an antisemitic incident that took place in a synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi.
“Everyone knows where you really stand, and that’s why you still can’t denounce the heinous term ‘globalize the intifada.’ It took you over a day to denounce Hamas, a terrorist group backed by Iran,” she tweeted in response. “The facade has dropped. The campaign is over, and while some weak politicians and sections of the media may let you off the hook, more people see the reality of who you are each day—and you will never be a part of the future of the Democratic Party.”
The Daily Caller has reached out to Fox News for a comment.
