The president said he thought Cuomo could “end up being prosecuted.”
President Joe Biden said Tuesday in an exclusive interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo should resign if an investigation confirms allegations he committed sexual harassment.
“I know you said you want me to continue the investigation,” Stephanopoulos told Biden, referring to a New York Attorney General’s investigation into allegations that Cuomo had harassed several women. “If the investigation confirms the women’s claims, should I give up?”
“Yes,” the president replied. “I think it will probably end up being processed as well.”
Seven charges have been filed in recent weeks against the Democratic governor, and one of the allegations he tried to make about a woman was referred to police in Albany, New York. Some of New York’s top Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, have called on Cuomo to step down.
Cuomo has denied the allegations.
So far, Biden has stopped supporting the immediate end of Cuomo’s government.
“I should do some research to determine if what he says is true,” Biden told Stephanopoulos during an extensive interview in Darby, Pennsylvania. “That’s what’s happening now.”
He added: “There could be criminal prosecution. I don’t know.”
“Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, the majority of the Congressional delegation don’t think he can be an effective governor right now,” Stephanopoulos asked. “Can it serve effectively?”
“Well, that’s a judgment for them,” the president said.
Biden said “a woman should be presumed to be telling the truth and not be a scapegoat and a victim of her appearance.”
“He has a lot of courage to show up,” the president said. “So the presumption is that they should be taken seriously. And it should be investigated. And that’s what’s underway now.”
Biden’s comments on Tuesday went a step beyond his only other public statements about the allegations against the governor.
On Sunday, when asked by ABC News during a brief exchange about whether Cuomo should resign, Biden had said, “I think the investigation is underway and we should see what it brings us.”
The president visited the suburbs of Philadelphia on Tuesday to promote the $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that the law signed last week.
Watch more of the interview with President Joe Biden on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, March 17 at 7 a.m. EDT.