Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Dov Hikind releases a book that trolls Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s book on leadership during the pandemic

(JTA) — The names of the books are nearly identical — but the contents differ greatly.

“American Crisis: Lessons in Leadership From The COVID-19 Pandemic” contains 320 pages of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s reflections on leading New York through the worst of the coronavirus in the spring.

“Lessons in ‘Leadership,’” by former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, begins with a foreword lambasting “King Covidius Cuomo” followed by 100 pages of blank white paper.

Hikind’s book debuted just a month after Cuomo’s and is meant to mock the governor’s volume.

In recent months Hikind, a longtime conservative Democrat who endorsed Donald Trump for president, has taken to calling the governor “King Cuomo” — a reference to measures taken by Cuomo to slow the spread of the coronavirus that Hikind interprets as authoritarian. (The new book adds Covidius to the moniker.) Hikind has accused Cuomo of picking on Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn, like Borough Park, which he represented for over 30 years, and enforcing greater pandemic restrictions there.

The description of the book, which is being sold for $19.99 with proceeds benefitting Hikind’s organization, Americans Against Antisemitism, says as much.

“After reading this masterpiece you’ll have sharpened your skills in these key areas: intimidation, loving the sound of your own voice, meandering, using your hand gestures to match your facial expressions, and most importantly how to be a vengeful mobster prick especially when it concerns Jews,” the description reads.

Hikind launched the book with a video of himself lying on a couch reading it.

“When all else fails, blame the Jews … let me write that down, that’s an important one,” Hikind says in the video.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version