A historic tidbit on Gov. Cuomo’s Twitter feed has political observers wondering if he was having some fun at Hillary Rodham Clinton’s expense on Presidents Day.
“Which state had the most governors go on to become President?” @NYGovCuomo asked its 107,000 followers Monday.
“NY, with four: Martin Van Buren, Glover Cleveland, Teddy Roosevelt and FDR,” it went on to answer. Were he to run for the White House in 2016 — and win — Cuomo would be added to the distinguished list.
“Maybe Andrew wants to be the fifth,” chuckled Bronx Democrat and former state Assemblyman Michael Benjamin. “I’ll tweet that back at him.”
Other pundits suggested that Cuomo’s tweet might have been a light-hearted dig at Clinton, a former secretary of state and senator from New York who is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, but who has never been governor.
“It’s Andrew Cuomo being mischievous. He’s tweaking everybody — including Hillary Clinton,” said political consultant Hank Sheinkopf.
A source said Cuomo’s tweets are actually written by a staffer who was thinking history and not politics. “No slight intended or perceived,” the source said.