President Biden has refused to join the chorus of fellow Democrats calling for the resignation of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, as Cuomo faces several scandals, including allegations of improper touch.
Cuomo denied any wrongdoing and said that any unwanted contact or kiss was not to be offensive, but simply his “usual” greeting. Biden also defended himself against accusations that he touched women inappropriately.
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“Social norms are changing. I understand that and I heard what these women are saying,” said Biden in a message posted on Twitter in April 2019. “The policy for me has always been to make connections, but I will be more aware of respecting the personal space in the future. That is my responsibility and I will fulfill it. “
Biden’s statement came after accusations by several women, who said he made them uncomfortable. Writer DJ Hill told the New York Times that in 2012, while she and her husband were posing for pictures with Biden, he put his hand on her shoulder and moved her back, making her “very uncomfortable”.
Former college student Caitlyn Caruso told the Times that she met Biden when she was 19 at an event on sexual assault that took place at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. Caruso said that Biden put his hand on her thigh and hugged her “a little too much” – after Caruso talked about his own experience with sexual assault.
Vail Kohnert-Yount told the Washington Post that when she was an intern at the White House in 2013, she had a strange encounter with the then vice president when Biden came to perform.
“He then put his hand on the back of my neck and pressed his forehead to my forehead while talking to me,” said Kohnert-Yount. “I was so shocked that it was difficult to concentrate on what he was saying. I remember he told me that I was a ‘beautiful girl’.”
Kohnert-Yount said he did not consider the behavior to be sexual harassment, but “it was the kind of inappropriate behavior that makes many women feel uncomfortable and unequal in the workplace”.
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Amy Lappos, who was an aide to deputy Jim Himes, DC, told Hartford Courant that in 2009 Biden put his hand on her neck, pulled it out and rubbed his nose against hers.
“When he was pulling me, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth,” said Lappos.
Vice President Joe Biden appears with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to reveal plans for new area infrastructure projects on July 27, 2015, in New York City. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
((Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images))
Nevada ex-politician Lucy Flores wrote in The Cut that in 2014 Biden put his hands on her shoulders, sniffed her hair and kissed the back of her neck when the two were at a campaign event. She was running for Nevada’s vice governor at the time.
“In my career, I have always tried to make a human connection,” said Biden in his statement about the allegations. “This is my responsibility, I think. I shake hands, hug people, grab men and women by the shoulders and say ‘you can do this’. And be women, men, young, old, that’s how I’ve always been. It’s the way I tried to show that I care about them and I’m listening. “
Cuomo also defended himself against an allegation by Anna Ruch that he put his hands on her face and asked to kiss her when they met at a wedding in 2019. Ruch also said that Cuomo put his hand on her bare back. A photo from the same show showed Cuomo with his hands on Ruch’s cheeks.
“You can find hundreds of pictures of me doing the same gesture with hundreds of people, women, men, children, etc.,” Cuomo told reporters. “You can find hundreds of pictures of me kissing people. Men, women, it’s my usual and customary way to say hello.”
Ruch’s allegations came after former Cuomo employees Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett claimed that Cuomo acted inappropriately. Boylan said the governor kissed her on the mouth without permission and once suggested that they play strip poker on board a flight. Bennett told the New York Times that Cuomo asked her about his sex life and gave the impression that he “wanted to sleep with me”.
Cuomo denied Boylan’s accusations, but apologized after Bennett and Ruch came forward.
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“Now I understand that I acted in a way that made people uncomfortable. It was not intentional and I really and deeply apologize for that,” said Cuomo. “I feel bad about it and, frankly, I’m ashamed of it.”
Since then, several other women have lodged complaints against Cuomo, the most serious of whom came from a current unidentified member of his government, who claimed he had invited her to the governor’s mansion to help with a cell phone problem then reached under her. blouse and touched it. Cuomo’s office denied this charge.
Biden was also accused of more serious misconduct, as Tara Reade claims he sexually abused her in 1993, when he was a senator and she was a member of his team. Biden denied that this happened.
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Cuomo now faces pressure to step down as state legislators, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Sens. Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Kirsten Gillibrand, DN.Y., asked him to resign.
Biden did not join them, instead telling reporters on Sunday that people should wait for the findings of the New York attorney general’s investigation.
“I think the investigation is underway and we should see what that brings us,” said the president.