Governor Andrew Cuomo (Photo Don Pollard/ Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)
March 12, 2021 By Allie Griffin
Governor Andrew Cuomo refused to step down Friday despite mounting calls for his resignation from powerful federal lawmakers after six women accused him of sexual harassment.
The vast majority of the Democratic members of New York’s congressional delegation — including several from Queens — called for Cuomo to resign in a flurry of statements Friday morning.
Queens Congress Members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Grace Meng and Carolyn Maloney all demanded Cuomo resign this morning along with Congress Member Jerrold Nadler — the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and one of the highest-ranking members of Congress.
“The challenges facing our state and New Yorkers are unprecedented, and I believe [Cuomo] is unable to govern effectively,” Meng said in a statement. “The Governor should resign for the good of our state.”
The calls for Cuomo’s resignation follow a report published by the Albany Times Union Wednesday in which a young female staffer said Cuomo groped her underneath her blouse during a meeting at the Executive Mansion late last year. She is the sixth woman to accuse the governor of inappropriate behavior.
Cuomo flatly denied the allegation during a conference call with reporters Friday.
“I did not do what has been alleged. Period,” he said.
The state attorney general is leading an investigation into the multiple allegations Cuomo now faces.
On Friday, Cuomo characterized the lawmakers seeking his resignation as “reckless and dangerous.” He said that they should wait until the results of the attorney general’s investigation are released.
He claimed their calls for him to step down were a result of “playing politics [and] bowing to cancel culture.”
“The people of New York should not have confidence in a politician who takes a position without knowing any facts or substance,” Cuomo said during the conference call. “That, my friends, is politics at its worst.”
The governor said that he supports a woman’s right to come forward, but later added that both his accusers and the legislators seeking his resignation may have political motives.
Thus far, Democratic Congress Members Ocasio-Cortez, Meng, Maloney, Nadler, Kathleen Rice, Yvette Clarke, Antonio Delgado, Mondaire Jones, Adriano Espaillat, Nydia Velázquez, Jamaal Bowman, Brian Higgins, Sean Patrick Maloney and Paul Tonko have called on Cuomo to resign.
Velázquez who represents Brooklyn in Congress also represents a small portion of Queens.
Meanwhile, Congress Member Tom Suozzi, whose district includes parts of Queens and Long Island, released a more moderate statement following Cuomo’s 1 p.m. call with reporters.
Suozzi said Cuomo should resign if he cannot effectively govern amid the controversy enveloping his administration.
“I believe the Governor must seriously consider whether he can effectively continue to govern in the midst of these unfolding allegations,” he said in a statement. “If he cannot effectively govern with all of the controversy surrounding him, he must put the interests of all New Yorkers first and he should resign.”
Southeast Queens Congress Member Gregory Meeks has not called on Cuomo to resign. Brooklyn Congress Member Hakeem Jeffries, whose district includes a small part of Queens, has not called for his resignation either.
On Thursday, more than 55 state legislators, including 14 from Queens, called for Cuomo’s resignation.
The governor urged New Yorkers to wait for the result of the attorney general’s investigation before passing judgement and waved off the calls for his resignation.
“Let the review proceed. I’m not going to resign,” Cuomo said. “I was not elected by the politicians; I was elected by the people.”
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22 Comments
Following allegations, he’s cancelled now?
That’s the same bs they do to teachers in nycdoe.
Allegations? Removed from school!!!
Trial by media is NOT right. Let the investigations get the facts. No way should he resign now.
@Gardens Watcher- Well said. You’re one of the few voices of reason on this stream.
Don’t resign just deny it like Trump.
Would he tolerate someone talking to his significant other(s), mother, sisters, brother, or daughters the way his victims say he has. I think not. He would of done everything that he could to make sure they quit as soon possible and never worked again. As of this morning there are a total of 7 victims. My boyfriend is from Italy. And he does not go around kissing and touching people at work. First he put blame on the ny pandemic on people traveling to ny from italy and now tries to blame the culture for his behavior. His cancel culture statement i think has more to do with him trying to say he is being attacked because he is a white old man more than anything else. Trying to gather support from republicans and white racists and bigots from both parties.
He killed the elderly and disabled in homes during his Emmy winning performance
He’s a big big shining star I tell you !
Anti Italian prejudice. Let’s protest.
But he has an Emmy !
I support the governors decision to not resign.
No crime was committed..None.
“Politics at its worst”… Cuomo at his best?
“If you want to see a person’s Character, give them Power” ~Abe Lincoln
This is ridiculous. The governor isn’t even breaking a sweat. These are political games at their finest.
CANCELLED! FORGET ABOUT IT!
Are those women willing to take a lie detector test and swear in court? This timing of these allegations is too suspicious. Wouldn’t be the first time republicans have set up a democrat to get what they want.
Is Andrew Cuomo willing to take a lie detector test, Joyce. Why should the women but not him?
Quiet all these years!!
We gotta draw line somewhere!!!
Remove the Cuomo name off Tappan Zee Bridge. It never deserved to be put there in the first place. It will remind us and future generations of all the bad he did to the good people of this state.
No surprise. He is a rich white over privileged man.
for bringing race and color into this. ?
Cuomo knows he can wait it out like Trump did. He knows, at the end of the day, how weak his opponents are.