New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s continued refusal to step down in the face of growing scandals is drawing comparisons to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who did not step down in 2019, despite calls from members of his own party to step down for cause of a scandal of his own.
“#Cuomo is pulling a Northam,” tweeted Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Policy Center, comparing the two Democratic governors.
On Sunday, right-wing commentator Hugh Hewitt tweeted that Cuomo is “Going ‘full Northam’.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo apologized for his earlier behavior after allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior by three women, telling reporters on Wednesday that he was “embarrassed” for his actions.
Cuomo was accused by several women of sexual harassment and of creating an uncomfortable work environment with apparent sexual advances. He is also accused of covering up deaths in nursing homes in New York at the beginning of the pandemic last year, which many attribute to the New York policy that sent positive coronavirus patients to nursing homes, even after federal guidance on doing so. changed.
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In addition, Cuomo and his top advisers are accused of creating a hostile work environment, intimidating and mistreating subordinates and reporters. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday the latest allegation of sexual harassment against Cuomo, by a woman named Ana Liss, and detailed a supposedly “toxic” work environment in the governor’s office.
The Northam scandal in 2019 was because of a photo that appeared on the medical school yearbook page showing two men – one dressed in black and the other dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam answers a question during a press conference inside the Patrick Henry building in Richmond, V. Tuesday, June 9, 2020. (Bob Brown / Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
Northam in early 2019 faced strong pressure to resign Democrats in Virginia and across the country.
“There is no place for racism in America,” said President Biden, who had not yet announced his presidential campaign. “Governor Northam has lost all moral authority and must resign immediately. Justin Fairfax is the leader Virginia needs now.”
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“Leaders are called to a higher standard, and the stain of racism should not take place in the halls of government,” said Vice President Kamala Harris, who a few days earlier had announced her presidential campaign. “The governor of Virginia must step aside so that the public can heal and move on together.”
Among the many other national Democrats who asked for Northam’s resignation at the time were the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., (who was then the Senate minority leader); Mayor, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Virginia Democratic Party President Susan Swecker said that Northam should “resign immediately” and “no longer have our confidence or support” and that Virginia Legislative Black Caucus also asked for his resignation.
Cuomo now faces calls to resign from Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and state Assembly President Carl Heastie, both Democrats. On Sunday afternoon, at least 35 Democrats and 12 Republicans in the New York state legislature called for Cuomo’s resignation.
Cuomo said on Sunday that “there is no way for me to resign” while New York Attorney General Letitia James is investigating the charges against him. He said, “Let’s look at the findings and go from there. But I’m not going to be distracted by that either.”
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The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Monday asking whether Biden and Harris now ask Cuomo to step down. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that the president believes that “all women should be heard” and that there should be an “independent review” of the allegations against Cuomo. But that was before more charges were brought against the governor.
Cuomo’s office did not respond to a separate request for comment on Monday, which also asked whether the governor is considering resigning.
The scandals faced by Northam and Cuomo differ in fundamental ways. The photo in which Northam allegedly appeared was taken when he was in medical school decades ago, while the charges against Cuomo are from the last few years, when he was governor of New York.
The charges against Cuomo also involve the governor’s active behavior by making sexual comments to advisers much younger than they, in some cases, interpreted as sex proposals.
None of the governors took full responsibility for the charges against him.
After initially admitting to being in the photo from the racially insensitive yearbook, Northam reversed and denied that the photo was his – a review could not conclusively prove whether Northam was in the photo or not.
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“I am not in the racist and offensive photo that appears under my name in the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook,” Northam said in a May 2019 statement. “That said, I know and understand the events of early February and my response. it hurt many Virgos and I am so sorry. I thought it was important to take responsibility for the presence of the photo on my page, but instead of providing clarity, I deepened the pain and confusion instead. “
Meanwhile, Cuomo has admitted some of the accusations about his behavior. But he just apologized “for acting in a way that made people uncomfortable” and said “it wasn’t intentional and I really and deeply apologize for it”.
“I feel terrible and, frankly, I’m ashamed,” said Cuomo, adding that “I never knew at the time that I was making someone uncomfortable.”
Cuomo also denied touching any woman inappropriately, as some have claimed.
Ronn Blitzer, Evie Fordham and Remy Numa from Fox News contributed to this report.