President Biden Calls on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to Resign
By Nicholas Rizzi August 3, 2021 5:52 pm
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President Joe Biden joined the growing number of local, state and national elected officials who have called on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign after state Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation found Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, including female staffers, and created a toxic workplace that enabled the harassment to occur.
“I think he should resign,” Biden said during an unrelated press conference Tuesday.
Biden declined to strongly condemn the fact that Cuomo used a photo of them embracing in a bizarre photo montage of Cuomo kissing and touching people during the governor’s own press conference Tuesday, during which he strongly denied the allegations.
Cuomo is facing calls from politicians of every political stripe to resign after James released her office’s report that showed Cuomo engaged in sex-based harassment through his comments and actions, which violated state law.
New York’s two U.S. Senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, renewed their call on him to resign along with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi after James’ bombshell report.
The investigation found that Cuomo allegedly sexually harassed 11 women — including staff members and other state employees — by inappropriately touching and kissing them, making sexual jokes, and grabbing the breast of an executive assistant.
The report concluded that the culture in Cuomo’s office was one of “fear and intimidation” that normalized frequent flirtations and gender-based comments, which led to the executive chamber failing to follow its own harassment policies.
In his press conference, Cuomo refused to resign, saying he never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances, and said he routinely touched people to help keep them at ease.
“I do kiss people on the cheek. I do kiss people on the hand. I do embrace people,” Cuomo said. “I do banter with people. I do tell jokes, some are better than others. I am the same person in public as I am in private.”
A spokesperson for Cuomo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
— With additional reporting by Celia Young.
Nicholas Rizzi can be reached at nrizzi@commercialobserver.com.
