More than a dozen congressional Democrats from New York, including both senators, put out statements in what appeared to be a coordinated release Friday morning, calling on the state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, to resign.
This marks the first time that multiple Democratic lawmakers at the Congressional level have called for Cuomo to step down. Rep. Kathleen Rice had previously demanded the governor resign.
In recent days, Cuomo, himself a Democrat, has faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct spanning the decade he has served as the top executive of New York. He has repeatedly denied the allegations, most recently to reporters on Tuesday in Albany.
The most recent allegation on Tuesday, originally published by the Albany Times Union, sparked a new wave of calls for Cuomo to leave the governor’s office. Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by six women including a current aide.
“This is very simple: I never touched anyone inappropriately. As I said last week, I never made any inappropriate advances (and) as I said last week, no one ever told me at the time that I made them feel uncomfortable,” Cuomo said.
After remaining relatively quiet about the allegations, other than calling for an independent investigation, 12 Democrats spoke out Friday. A series of statements from lawmakers including Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler and House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney called on Cuomo to resign.
“The repeated accusations against the Governor, and the manner in which he has responded to them, have made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point,” Nadler’s statement read.
Maloney echoed his calls in her own statement: “We have come a long way, but now is the time to finally ensure that this generation’s courage stops harassment once and for all.”
Still, others focused on the experience of the women who have alleged misconduct by Cuomo. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Jamaal Bowman released a joint statement.
“[W]e believe these women, we believe the reporting, we believe the Attorney General, and we believe the fifty-five members of the New York State legislature, including the State Senate Majority Leader who have concluded that Governor Cuomo can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges,” they stated.
Rep. Nydia Velazquez’s statement was short and to the point.
“As public servants, we must earn the trust and respect of those we represent. There is only one way the governor can truly restore accountability and confidence to his office: he must resign,” she said.
Reps. Delgado, Meng, Clarke, Espaillat, Jones, Higgans, and Sean Patrick Maloney all concurred in their individual statements. As of press time, only Reps. Meeks, Torres, Jeffries, Tonko, Morelle, and Suozzi had not commented Friday morning.
This marks 13 total Congressional Democrats who called on Cuomo to resign. Together, they are more than half of the Democratic members of the House of Representatives representing New York. Neither of New York’s Senators has called for Cuomo’s resignation.
Late on Friday, both Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand put out a joint statement also pressing the governor to leave office.
“I did not do what has been alleged. Period,” he said while asking for current investigations to proceed. “Wait for the facts.”
He also appeared to add a remark for the congressional delegation, stating, “Politicians who don’t know a single fact but yet form a conclusion and an opinion are, in my opinion, reckless and dangerous.”
Benjamin Deeter and Mike Nam contributed to this report.
Updated on March 12, 2021, at 5:53 pm ET with response from Cuomo.
Mona Zhang, states cannabis policy reporter at POLITICO Pro joins Cheddar News to discuss major factors that caused Canada's retail marijuana sales to drop last year.
The January 6 committee has asked Ivanka Trump to give voluntary testimony, saying there's evidence she was in "direct contact" with her father on the day of the capitol insurrection. I's unclear whether she will comply with the invitation, but it marks the first time the House committee has sought testimony from a member of the former president's family. Bradley Moss, national security attorney, joined Cheddar News to discuss what the committee hopes to learn from Ivanka and what the Supreme Court's decision on Trump's Jan. 6 materials means for the investigation.
Terrell Jermaine Starr, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council and host of the Black Diplomats podcast joins Cheddar News to discuss Russia's attempt to invade Ukraine.
With an increasing number of teachers and staff calling out sick by the day, the state of Oklahoma is turning to an unusual solution. Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has issued an executive order that permits state employees to work as substitute teachers. Shaily Baranwal, founder and CEO of Elevate K-12, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the stance of the U.S. and its allies should Russia make any forays into Ukraine, a seeming response to President Biden's remarks that should Putin engage in something short of a full invasion, there might be some indecision among allied nations regarding what to do. Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the think tank Atlantic Council, joined Cheddar to discuss the difficulty faced by Blinken wrangling unity as tensions run high in the region. "There'll be a smaller incursion, and the president implied, there'll be a weaker response because our European allies have created this horrible situation where they are dependent on Moscow for their gas supply," Cohen explained.
During a nearly two-hour press conference on Wednesday, President Biden spoke on his accomplishments and challenges from the first year of his presidency, and what his administration hopes to accomplish in the coming year. However, his approval ratings are underwater as COVID remains a big concern for voters — as does inflation, noted Tom Bevan, co-founder and president of polling aggregator RealClearPolitics. "The public thinks [inflation] is priority number one, and the administration is concerned about it, they talk about it, but they're not spending enough time on it as far as the public is concerned," said Bevan.
The drama surrounding tennis star Novak Djokovic continues after he was deported from Australia over the weekend due to the nation's COVID-19 vaccine requirements. Djokovic was forced to leave the country on the eve of what was to be his first match in defense of his Australian Open title after three judges ruled in favor of his removal and revealed their reasoning for doing so. Adding to his woes, a law recently passed in France is putting his chances of defending his French Open title in jeopardy. The director of Marist's Center for Sports Communication, Jane McManus, joined Cheddar to discuss the ongoing fallout.
As the midterm elections get ever closer, candidates have been getting creative with their campaigns to stick out and to connect with voters. Gary Chambers, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Louisiana, has definitely attracted attention with an advertisement featuring him smoking a blunt, making a point about the inequity of anti-cannabis laws. "We wanted to bring the seriousness of the moment," he said of the ad. "But we also wanted to make sure that people understand that there are 19 states that are legal right now but Black people and brown people are being over-incarcerated in mostly Southern and Midwestern states in America for cannabis possession."
If some members of Congress have their way, there might finally be a 'TLDR' on sites' terms of service, introduced by the terms-of-service labeling, design, and readability act – or TLDR for short. With this act, users will actually understand what they're agreeing to or the many ways in which their data is being used before pressing 'accept.' J.D. sat down with co-sponsor of the bill and Senator Bill Cassidy, to discuss.
