New York Governor Andrew Cuomo faced an impressive series of defections on Friday amid accusations of sexual harassment that left the high-profile Democrat fighting for his political survival, angry and alone.
By the end of the day, the three-term governor had lost the support of almost all 29 members of the New York Congressional delegation and most Democrats in the state legislature. None of the defections hurt more than those of the two American senators from New York, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
“Due to multiple credible allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct, it is clear that Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his partners in the government and the people of New York,” the Democratic senators wrote in a joint statement. “Governor Cuomo must resign.”
The escalating political crisis sparked an impeachment investigation in a predominantly democratic state and threatens to cloud the early days of President Joe Biden in office. Republicans took advantage of the scandal to try to distract Biden’s success in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and to challenge his party’s well-established advantage with voters.
Biden, a longtime ally of Cuomo and his father, former New York governor Mario Cuomo, has avoided directly addressing the controversy, although it is becoming increasingly difficult.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday declined to say whether Biden believes Cuomo should step down. She said that every woman who introduced herself “deserves to have her voice heard, must be treated with respect and must be able to tell her story”.
The senators’ statement, which cited the pandemic as a reason for the need for “firm and secure leadership”, came shortly after Schumer stood by Biden at a ceremony in the Rose Garden celebrating the approval of the coronavirus relief bill $ 1.9 trillion supported by Democrats.
A challenger Cuomo earlier in the day insisted he would not step down and condemned his Democratic detractors as “reckless and dangerous”.
“I did not do what was alleged. Full stop, ”he said, before invoking one of former President Donald Trump’s favorite complaints. “People know the difference between doing politics, revering culture and the truth.”
Never before has the impetuous 63-year-old Democratic governor, who was due to run for a fourth term in 2022, be more politically isolated.
Some members of Cuomo’s party had already turned against him for his decision to keep secret how many nursing home residents died of COVID-19 for months, and the latest wave of defections signaled a possible tipping point.
Cuomo’s coalition of critics has expanded geographically and politically, now covering virtually all regions of the state and the centers of political power in New York City and Washington. Among them are the progressive New York City representative, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; the leader of the Democrats’ campaign arm in the House, US Representative Sean Patrick Maloney; Brian Higgins, American deputy based in Buffalo; and a group of Long Island state lawmakers who were loyal to Cuomo.
“Victims of sexual assault worry me more than politics or other narrow considerations, and I believe that Governor Cuomo should step aside,” said Maloney.
Ocasio-Cortez, in a joint statement with US deputy Jamaal Bowman, said that after a new allegation against the governor, she was concerned about the safety and well-being of the governor’s team.
“We believe in these women,” they said.
New York lawmakers approve impeachment investigation
Cuomo, on Friday, insisted that he never touched anyone inappropriately and said again that he regrets making someone feel uncomfortable. He refused to answer a direct question about whether he had a consensual romantic relationship with any of the accusers.
“I never had an inappropriate sexual relationship, period,” he said.
The state assembly gave the green light to an impeachment investigation on Thursday, while lawmakers investigate whether there are grounds for Cuomo’s forced removal from office. The state attorney general is also conducting an investigation into his conduct in the workplace.
The storm surrounding the governor escalated after the Albany Times Union reported on Wednesday that an unidentified aide told a supervisor that Cuomo reached under her shirt and petted her at his official residence last year.
The woman did not file a criminal complaint, but a lawyer for the governor said on Thursday that the state reported the allegation to Albany police after the woman refused to do so.
In addition, Cuomo is facing several allegations of sexually suggestive comments and behavior towards women, including female auxiliaries. An aide said he asked her if she would have sex with an older man. And another aide said that the governor once kissed her without consent, and said that the governor’s aides publicly defamed her after she accused him of sexual harassment.
>> Third woman accuses New York Governor Cuomo of sexual harassment
Rarely in the modern era has an elected leader survived such a political reaction from his own party, but there are precedents.
Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, a Republican, refused to resign in 2009 after a scandal involving an extramarital affair. He would serve in Congress. And in 2019, Virginia Democratic Governor Ralph Northam resisted widespread calls for his resignation after a black photo in an old yearbook appeared. Northam is still in office.
Cuomo said on Friday that he could still rule, despite the growing list of elected officials demanding his resignation.
He did not address the reality of an increasingly unsustainable position: Cuomo is still managing the state’s pandemic response and negotiating a state budget with lawmakers who have lost confidence in his leadership. More than 120 members of the state legislature asked him to step down earlier this week, most of them Democrats.
The defections of virtually the entire Congressional delegation raised the prospect of further erosion of support.
Showing no signs of giving in to pressure, Cuomo raised new questions about the accusers’ motives.
“I’m not going to speculate on people’s possible motives,” he said on Friday. “But I can tell you, as a former attorney general who has been through this situation many times, there are often many reasons for making a complaint. And that is why you need to know the facts before making a decision.”
“Serious allegations must be taken seriously, right?”, He added. “That’s why they are called serious.
(AP)