Cuomo Says He Won’t Resign Despite Calls For Him To Step Down

Several lawmakers and the Working Family Party have called for Cuomo to step down, as he’s under investigation for sexual harassment allegations.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference at a vaccination site in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., February 22, 2021. | Reuters
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference at a vaccination site in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., February 22, 2021. | Reuters

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) said Wednesday he’s “embarrassed” about the sexual harassment allegations against him, which he apologized for, but that he does not plan to resign despite calls for him to step down. 

“The lawyers say I shouldn’t say anything when you have a pending review until that review is over,” Gov. Cuomo said, after speaking about the state’s COVID-19 response for about 30 minutes. “I want New Yorkers to hear from me directly on this: first, I fully support a woman’s right to come forward, and I think it should be encouraged in every way.”

“I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable. It was unintentional,” he continued, getting emotional. “I feel awful about it, and frankly I am embarrassed by it.”New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) has opened an independent investigation into the allegations against Cuomo, with which the governor agreed to cooperate. Three women, including two former aides, have come forward with sexual harassment allegations against him. Separately, Cuomo’s office is under investigation by the AG for allegedly delaying reporting of nursing home residents’ deaths from COVID-19. 

When asked during the press conference Wednesday about how a photo of him touching one of his accusers’ cheeks compares to others of him touching constituents, Cuomo compared it to his “father’s way of greeting people.” “It is my usual and customary way of greeting … what I also understand is it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter, my intent,” he said. “What matters is if anybody was offended by it … then it was wrong. And I apologize.”

Since the allegations against Cuomo have been made public, lawmakers including Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), the Working Families Party, and others have called for his resignation. 

State senator Alessandra Biaggi (D-NY), who has criticized the governor on other matters, including an opulent fundraising dinner with Cuomo where tickets cost $25,000 a pop, appeared unsatisfied with his Wednesday remarks.

In a report published Saturday by the New York Times, Charlotte Bennett, a 25-year-old former aide to the governor’s office, alleged that while working for Cuomo, he asked her questions about her sex life and told her “that he was open to relationships with women in their 20s.” In December, Lindsey Boylan, another former Cuomo aide, accused the governor in a series of tweets of sexually harassing her “for years.”

On Monday, Anna Ruch, now 33, told The Times that Cuomo tried to kiss her at a wedding reception in September 2019 when they were meeting for the first time. Almost immediately after being introduced to the governor, Ruch said, Cuomo put his hands on her lower, bare back. Ruch said she removed his hand, but Cuomo then put his hands on her cheeks and said, “Can I kiss you?” A friend who saw the interaction took a photo of the two, and the Times reported that Ruch “later had to ask a friend” if the governor’s lips “had made contact with her face as she pulled away.” She was told Cuomo “had kissed her cheek.”

After laying low in the wake of the investigations, compared to his daily, high-profile COVID-19 briefings last year, Cuomo held a press conference Wednesday and urged people to wait for the investigation’s findings to be made public.

“Get the facts please before forming an opinion,” he said. “Make a decision when you know the facts."