NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's 'pierced nipples' break the internet amid coronavirus crisis
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has fast emerged as one of the most discussed political personalities in the US amid the coronavirus outbreak. The 62-year-old Democrat, who is holding the office since 2011, has not shied away from leading from the front despite his state being badly hit by the pandemic. New York City alone has seen a death toll surpassing 1,000 and his name has also featured in the same league as frontrunning presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Though Cuomo is not contesting the presidential election, incumbent Trump said on Monday, March 30, that the former would be a stronger Democratic opponent to him for the November election than Biden.
However, on Tuesday, March 31, Cuomo was in the headlines for another reason. He set the internet abuzz after two strange protrusions poked out from under his shirt and the Twitterati started debating that they were nothing but nipple rings.
Users on Twitter and Reddit fiercely debated whether Cuomo indeed sported the fashion rings till Rich Azzopardi, senior advisor to the governor, denied it by telling the New York Post: “Of course not, sorry Internet.”
The wild speculation started after the users suspected there were rings poking out of Cuomo’s upper torso through his “State of Emergency” shirt.
One user wrote on Twitter on Saturday, March 28: “Is it just me or is Cuomo’s nipple totally pierced?” and it soon led to a detailed discussion on Reddit trying to reach the truth.
“There’s definitely something going on under there,” another user wrote. Yet another called the possible piercings “the single greatest discovery by humanity.”
One said: “If it is, I like him even more.”
Others tried to convince the rest that Cuomo perhaps tapes his nipples to prevent chafing or that his nipples had an unusual shape.
'A powerful new level of divorce'
The Daily Beast threw some light on Cuomo’s personal side as well. The governor recently turned single after divorcing his second wife Sandra Lee of the Food Network and according to the DB report: “If we are only now noticing the longtime politician’s nipple piercings, the detail could be new. (Or maybe we are just very bored.)” It asked whether Cuomo was a man facing his midlife crisis and yet guiding the US at a time of its existential crisis. Writer Robert Wheel summed up Cuomo’s “nipple ring” as a “powerful new level of divorce”.
Brian Keith Thompson, owner of Los Angeles’ Body Electric Tattoo who has given piercing services to stars like Beyoncé, FKA Twig and Scarlett Johansson, said Cuomo need not be nipple-shamed and felt the accessories could earn him more fans.
“Before we saw [the piercing], he’s one person,” Thompson was quoted as saying by the DB. “Then we see that, and we’re like ‘Oh wow! Governor Cuomo has got a wild side’.”
Meanwhile, the US continued to see a fast spread of the coronavirus with over 188,000 people getting affected and over 4,000 lives lost. Worldwide, 859,796 cases have been confirmed while the death toll went past 42,000.