The Surprising Reason Andrew Cuomo Is Getting An Emmy Award

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo can add another accomplishment to his resume, as he is the recipient of an International Emmy Award.

The governor is receiving the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Founders Award for his once-daily briefings on the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Academy said that his briefings helped to both inform and calm the public as the health crisis decimated New York early on, and they plan to give him the award through a live-streamed show on Nov. 23, The Associated Press reports.

“The governor’s 111 daily briefings worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines, and stories of success and failure,” International Academy President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce L. Paisner said. “People around the world tuned in to find out what was going on, and New York tough became a symbol of the determination to fight back.”

During the height of the pandemic in New York, Cuomo took to television screens with Powerpoint-driven slideshows with daily updates on the state’s progress with containing the virus and the efforts his administration was making to also work on bringing numbers down. At the height in April, over 18,000 people were hospitalized at once.

The news of his award received a wide array of reactions on social media, with some applauding the decision and agreeing that the briefings were what the Academy said they were.

However, others found the news to be absurd, with some criticizing the decision to give the award to a politician at all, with others also critiquing the governor’s approach to the pandemic.

Cuomo has not reacted to the news of his win on social media, but he won’t be the only member of his family to boast that he has won the award. His brother, CNN commentator Chris Cuomo, has won Emmy’s as part of the production teams behind several news programs. His two trophies were a Daytime award in 2007 for Excellence in Morning Programming for “Good Morning America” and in 2010 for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story—Long Form for “ABC News: Inauguration 2009.”