WASHINGTON (AP) – Kirsten Gillibrand was the first Democratic senator to call for the resignation of her partner Al Franken in 2017 when she faced allegations of sexual misconduct, building a profile as a leading advocate for women who became in the central axis of his 2020 presidential candidacy.
But the New York senator is taking a different touch when it comes to allegations of sexual harassment hitting closer to home, those against his state’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo.
In a series of statements, Gillibrand has said Cuomo’s allegations of offensive behavior are “serious and deeply troubling” and that the three women “who have come forward have shown enormous courage.” She has said claims against Cuomo are “completely unacceptable” and has called for a full investigation, but has stopped demanding her resignation.
Similarly, New York’s top Democrats and nationals have refrained from suggesting that Cuomo resign. This includes New York’s senior senator and the House’s majority leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer. It’s a much more cautious approach than the parade of Democratic senators who followed Gillibrand’s leadership in calling for Franken’s resignation.
This fuels questions about whether, in addition to three years of the #MeToo movement, the push to hold powerful men responsible for sexual harassment and abuse is losing strength. Gillibrand paid a political price for his role in Franken’s resignation and his tone towards Cuomo may reflect that.
“Our country needs to do better for women to grow up,” said Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of Women’s March, a advocacy group that emerged from the January 2017 rally when dozens of thousands of women, most dressed in pink. on Washington to protest Donald Trump’s presidency. “Both parties and at all levels of government.”
Franken eventually resigned, but Democrats later questioned whether they had come forward too quickly to oust him. During his presidential campaign, Gillibrand faced questions about his decision and insisted that he not regret asking Franken to relinquish his seat in the Senate. But he acknowledged that doing so hurt him with the best donors and may have hampered his effort to gain a follow-up in the early groups in Iowa, which borders Franken’s state of Minnesota.
Pete Buttigieg, who tied essentially in first place in Iowa, has said that when it came to Franken, “I wouldn’t have applied that pressure at that point until we knew more.” The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is now Secretary of Transportation for President Joe Biden.
Carmona’s group has gone one step further than Gillibrand and other leading Democrats, calling for an investigation against Cuomo, but also demanding his “immediate resignation,” noting that “conduct should not be illegal to be disabling “.
Cuomo rejected those calls Wednesday, saying that while he was “embarrassed” by the allegations, he has no intention of resigning.
“I work for the people of New York State,” the governor said, breaking days of silence during a press conference. “They chose me.”
A Gillibrand spokesman declined to comment on whether the senator considered asking Cuomo to resign. But even in 2017, Gillibrand spent weeks calling for an investigation into Franken and only became the first Democratic senator to say he had to step aside when news broke of a seventh woman accusing him of wrongdoing. conduct.
He has also argued that there was a “double standard” in operation, blaming his party for losing a rising star to Franken, even though so many Democrats eventually called for his resignation.
“Who is responsible for Al Franken’s decision to resign? Women senators, myself included, “Gillibrand said in July 2019, about a month before leaving the presidential race.” It’s outrageous. It’s absurd. “
She’s not the only one who sees sexism in the pressure fall on women to report alleged infractions of a man. But Gillibrand has promoted herself as a feminist leader and advocate for women’s rights, and the Cuomo scandal concerns her status.
Gillibrand founded an activist group called Off the Sidelines, which raised millions of dollars to help mobilize more women to participate in politics, and for years enjoyed being sometimes called the “#MeToo Senator.”
“We all want her to have more courage right now, but she’s not history and shouldn’t become history,” said Rebecca Katz, a Democratic consultant in New York City, who said equating Gillibrand with Cuomo’s alleged misconduct “is losing the whole point.”
However, Gillibrand has seen his national profile decline after his presidential candidacy.
He campaigned for Biden last fall. But unlike several other Senate colleagues who competed against Biden for the Democratic nomination, Gillibrand was never seriously considered a leading choice to be Biden’s running mate, despite his long promise to choose a woman.
Gillibrand, 54, who has been a senator for 12 years, has time to hold another presidency, though questions may remain about how to handle the Franken scandal, and now perhaps even his reaction to Cuomo.
“We need to stop blaming women for harassing men,” Katz said. “Sen. Gillibrand had many entries to properly call Al Franken many years ago, for being one of the many who called Al Franken. We are doing it wrong ”.