Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he feels “horrible” and “embarrassed” by the multiple allegations of sexual harassment against him, but insisted, “I will not resign.”
Cuomo, who is serving a third term expiring late next year, vowed to remain in office despite the outrage of his fellow Democrats.
“I was not elected by politicians, I was elected by the people of New York State. I’m not going to resign, ”he said.
“I work for the people of New York State. I was elected and I will serve the people of New York State. “
During a video press conference from the Albany Capitol, Cuomo insisted, “I never touched anyone inappropriately,” and pledged to cooperate with an independent investigation by state attorney general Letitia James.
Cuomo also said he was acting against legal advice to tell New Yorkers, “Now I understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable.”
“It was involuntary and I really and truly apologize,” he insisted as his voice choked.
“I feel horrible and frankly it embarrasses me and that’s not easy to say, but that’s the truth.”
Speaking at times as if he were living in a different era, Cuomo said there were “hundreds of photographs” showing him kissing men and women, including members of the state legislature, as if it were normal behavior in 2021.
“It’s my usual, habitual way of greeting,” Cuomo said. “However, what I also understand is that it doesn’t matter. … The important thing is if someone was offended by that. “
Cuomo also pledged to adjust how he acts in the wake of the scandal.
“I understand that sensibilities have changed, that behaviors have changed, and that I will learn from them,” he promised.
But Cuomo’s comments about his own behavior and his ignorance of any inadequacy come after several years of allegations of high-profile sexual harassment following the #MeToo movement sparked by the exposure of the tycoon’s predatory behavior. the film Harvey Weinstein, which took him prisoner. for 23 years.
Boylan, now a Democratic candidate for president of the Manhattan district, also alleged in an online essay that Cuomo told him, “Let’s play strip poker,” during an October 2017 flight with his official state jet.
Boylan’s allegations led another 25-year-old former Cuomo aide, Charlotte Bennett, to allege in a report released Saturday that she was asking him inappropriate personal questions, telling him he was open to relationships with women in their twenties and he let her feel that he “wanted to sleep.” with me.”
And in a report this Monday, Anna Ruch, a 33-year-old former White House member led by then-President Barack Obama, accused Cuomo of approaching her, grabbing her face and kissing her after officiating the wedding of a 2019 administration aide, Gareth Rhodes, to another former Obama member, Alexa Kissinger.
Cuomo is the latest renowned Democrat to face sexual harassment allegations following the #MeToo movement sparked by exposure to the predatory behavior of film mogul Harvey Weinstein, who left him in prison for 23 years. .
In 2017, then-US Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) Relinquished pressure from fellow Democrats following a series of allegations that included a woman claiming he was trying to kiss her after a recording of his radio show more than a decade earlier. .
“It’s my right as a cheerleader,” said the woman quoted by Franken during the incident, which allegedly took place three years before he was elected to the Senate.
And during the 2020 election campaign, President Biden also faced allegations of misconduct that included former Nevada Democratic politician Lucy Flores, who said it made her feel “uncomfortable, dirty, and confused” when she grabbed her shoulders from behind and kissed her hair in 2014.
These statements led supporters of then-President Donald Trump to demonstrate at last year’s Democratic National Convention in Wilmington, Florida, where they sang, “Creepy Joe must go!”