Gov. Cuomo pummeled online for selling poster touting New York's COVID response

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Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing intense backlash for selling a poster touting New York's response to the coronavirus outbreak. 

On Monday, Cuomo debuted a poster he designed called "New York Tough" that he suggests captures the journey his state went through while addressing the pandemic.

"I love history. I love poster art. Poster art is something they did in the early 1900s, late 1800s, when they had to communicate their whole platform on one piece of paper," Cuomo stated. "Over the past few years I’ve done my own posters that capture that feeling. I did a new one for what we went through with COVID and I think the general shape is familiar to you. We went up the mountain, we curved the mountain, we came down the other side and these are little telltale signs that, to me, represent what was going on."

The poster depicts a mountain with essential workers pulling a rope symbolizing the "flattening of the curve."

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On top of the poster reads a quote attributed to the governor, "Wake up America! Forget the politics, get smart!"

The poster features an airplane with "Europeans," "COVID-19," "Jan-Mar," and "3 million" on it, suggesting that the virus mostly came from Europe instead of China, where the disease is believed to have originated.

Also seen on the poster are masks, social distancing, and President Trump sitting on a crescent moon saying, "It's just the flu."

According to the pre-order page, the poster costs $14.50 plus shipping and handling and that "New York State does not profit from the sale of this poster."

Cuomo's poster was blasted on social media.

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"He's actually selling his self-congratulatory poster that's centered around a visual representation of 32,000 deaths," Tablet Magazine associated editor Noah Baum reacted. "Was Cuomo always this repugnant or does this much media flattery make anyone lose perspective?"

"Your inaction and infighting with the Mayor caused thousands of deaths," activist and former Sanders surrogate Shaun King told Cuomo. "Nearly every expert in the nation says had you acted sooner it could’ve saved nearly 10,000 lives. That you think it’s time for posters touting your 'success' is troubling."

"The narcissism and gall is stunning," journalist Jeryl Bier tweeted.

Through much of the coronavirus crisis, there has been growing scrutiny over the Democratic governor's order in late March that forced nursing homes to accept patients who tested positive for coronavirus, despite testing deficiencies for both residents and staff. Cuomo signed an executive order on May 11 reversing the policy, stopping hospitals from sending infected patients back to nursing homes and ramping up testing for staff.

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The Associated Press reported last week that “New York hospitals released more than 6,300 recovering coronavirus patients into nursing homes during the height” of the coronavirus pandemic under a “controversial, now-scrapped policy.”

Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.