When it comes to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s sexual harassment scandal, the left has been behaving very differently, and it has many attempting to figure out why. The activist media’s approach to the scandal plaguing the embattled governor is rather uncharacteristic in that they are actively blasting his indiscretions and his mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic instead of scrambling to protect him from pouncing Republicans.

Theories have abounded regarding why the left has not bothered to circle the wagons around their favorite governor after spending the entirety of 2020 shouting his praises from the proverbial rooftops and prostrating themselves at his feet. (See: Why Is the Activist Media Turning on Gov. Andrew Cuomo?)

New York Post columnist Miranda Devine put forth an interesting theory on Monday during an appearance on “Fox News Primetime”. She indicated that the left is discarding Cuomo because they no longer need him.

Devine indicated that despite his obvious ineptitude in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the left still used him as a heroic figurehead to oppose former President Donald Trump. Now that Trump is out of office, she theorized that he has outlived his usefulness.

“The Democrats decided he was of no more use. He had served his purpose as a foil against Donald Trump last year, as the good guy, the perfect gold standard leadership guy compared to the terrible Donald Trump,” she told host Lawrence B. Jones. “He played that role remarkably well. He got an Emmy for it.”

She continued: “Now he’s of no use, he’s just being discarded. I hope all Democrats look at that and see that’s the fate for them.”

Jones interrupted, pointing out that failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton issued a statement saying she was “glad to see” that Cuomo would be the subject of an independent investigation.

“The hypocrisy in this,” Jones said. “Your husband was accused of this. You decided to stand by your husband, you demonized the women. We know there’s proof that he was doing some dirty business.”

“Well, we know that Hillary Clinton is a hypocrite from way back,” Devine agreed. “That’s her specialty. It’s amazing that she and all the other Democrat women who were front and center calling for Brett Kavanaugh to be hung, drawn and quartered as a gang rapist, took so long to come out, to make these mealy-mouthed, ‘give him due process’ statements about Cuomo.”

Devine brings up an interesting point in her assessment, and she could very well be right. However, it is worth noting that even if they had no more use for him, they could still defend him as they had in the past. The fact that they are not all but ignoring stories damaging to Cuomo as is their usual response is telling. They are not just letting the chips fall where they may; activist media outlets are actively publishing stories and op-eds critical of the governor for his ineptitude and alleged sexual impropriety.

Perhaps Cuomo’s lessened usefulness plays a role in this situation, but it still seems more likely that the governor has simply amassed too much baggage for them to adequately defend or obfuscate. To put it simply, it makes more sense for Democrats and the activist media – but I repeat myself – to cut their losses and ensure that he no longer has a political future. After all, Trump is out of office and they can just use President Biden as their champion.

Either way, it would be wise not to assume that the press is finally going to start treating Democrats as they do Republicans. Cuomo’s situation is an outlier, an example of what the left will do when it becomes impossible to protect one of their own.