NEW YORK (AP) – The two top Democrats in the New York legislature withdrew their support for Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday amid mounting allegations of sexual harassment and undercutting COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
Senate leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins became the first senior Democrat in the state to say the governor had to step down for three terms. Meeting Chairman Carl Heastie stopped demanding that Cuomo quit, but said in a statement that “it is time for the governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York.”
On Saturday, two more women who worked for Cuomo publicly accused him of inappropriate behavior, echoing other allegations made in recent weeks.
“Every day there is a different account pulling out of government affairs,” Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. “New York is still in the midst of this pandemic and continues to face its social, health and economic consequences. We must rule without daily distractions. For the good of the state, Governor Cuomo must resign. “
Her public push for his resignation came shortly after a press conference on Sunday, where Cuomo said it would be “anti-democratic” to resign.
“There is no way I can resign,” Cuomo told reporters.
“They do not override the will of the people, they do not override elections,” he said. ‘I was chosen by the people of New York State. I was not elected by politicians. “
In a brief phone call on Sunday prior to the press conference, Cuomo told Stewart-Cousins that he would not quit and that they should charge him if they did not want him in the office, according to a person who had been briefed by someone at the calling was. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as the conversation was intended to be private.
Cuomo said the next six months will determine how successfully New York comes out of the coronavirus pandemic. “I’m not getting distracted because there is too much for the people to do,” he said, noting that the state must approve a budget within three weeks and administer another 15 million COVID-19 vaccines.
Support for Cuomo eroded with surprising speed as he faced twin scandals, one over his treatment of women in the workplace and one second over his government’s months-long refusal to release full statistics on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes .
Some lawmakers have been outraged by revelations that the Cuomo administration has delayed releasing some data on the deaths of nursing home patients in hospitals, at least in part because of concerns that it could be used against them by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Several women have stated publicly that they felt sexually harassed, or at least felt humiliated and uncomfortable. The state attorney general is conducting an investigation. Cuomo has urged people to wait for that investigation to be completed before judging him.
Others who have called for Cuomo’s resignation include US Representative Kathleen Rice, a Long Island Democrat.
Former adviser Lindsey Boylan, 36, said Cuomo made inappropriate comments about her appearance, joked about playing strip poker and once kissed her on the lips at the end of a meeting. Former assistant, 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett, said Cuomo asked if she had ever had sex with older men and made other comments that she interpreted as gauging her interest in an affair.
Another former assistant, Ana Liss, told The Wall Street Journal in a story published Saturday that when Cuomo worked as the governor’s policy officer between 2013 and 2015, Cuomo referred to her as “ sweetie, ” kissing her hand and asking personal questions, including whether she had a boyfriend.
When asked about Liss’s story at his press conference on Sunday, Cuomo said such a talk was “my way of doing friendly banter.”
Echoing comments he made at a press conference last week, Cuomo acknowledged that he had made jokes and asked personal questions in an effort to be collegial and often greeted people with hugs and kisses.
“I never meant for anyone to be uncomfortable,” he said. Cuomo has denied touching anyone inappropriately
While Cuomo has apologized for his behavior in recent days, at least tacitly acknowledging that some of the things women have said are true, he has also listed some of the allegations as downright false.
On Sunday, he disputed a story told about him by Karen Hinton, a former Cuomo press officer when he was the federal housing secretary under President Bill Clinton.
In a story published Saturday in The Washington Post, Hinton describes an awkward hotel room interaction she had with Cuomo when the two met in California years ago when they were trying to sort things out after an estrangement.
Hinton said that when she got up to leave, Cuomo gave her a hug that was “very long, too long, too tight, too intimate”.
She described the encounter not as sexual harassment, but as a ‘power game’ for ‘manipulation and control’. She was no longer an assistant to Cuomo at the time.
When asked about Hinton’s story on Sunday, Cuomo said it was “not true” and noted that the two had long been political opponents.
AP reporter Michael Balsamo contributed to this report from Washington, DC