March 15, 2021

Andrew Cuomo

“On Friday, New York’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and most of the state’s congressional delegation, including leading progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, urged [New York Governor Andrew] Cuomo, now in his third term as governor, to resign… Cuomo faces accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct leveled by at least seven women, including former aides.” Reuters

“President Joe Biden on Sunday passed up an opportunity to join other Democrats calling for the resignation of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo… Asked by a reporter if Cuomo should resign, Biden responded, ‘I think the investigation is underway and we should see what it brings us.’” AP News

Read our most recent coverage of the allegations against Cuomo. The Flip Side

Both sides condemn Cuomo and call for his resignation:

“His accusers, without any apparent coordination, several of them his own former aides rather than political enemies, are describing a consistent pattern of behavior that doesn’t require any wild leaps of faith to believe. What’s more, in the case of Anna Ruch, we have an actual photo of the behavior — and Ruch’s facial expression makes clear that she is not welcoming Cuomo’s hands on each side of her face…

“Andrew Cuomo is an impulsive, temperamental, sometimes-raging, often-bullying egomaniac prone to spectacular failures of self-awareness, and it’s notable that no one who knows the governor is exclaiming, ‘Talking to female underlings about their sex lives and pressuring them for a relationship? That just doesn’t sound like the Andrew Cuomo I know!’”
The Editors, National Review

“Andrew Cuomo, three-term governor and son of a former three-term governor, said this [during a briefing last Friday]: ‘Part of this is that I am not part of the political club. And you know what? I’m proud of it.’ Brother, if you’re not part of the political club, then Mickey Mouse isn’t part of Disney

“What Cuomo’s trying to do is to differentiate between himself and Democratic politicians and activists who have long been critical of him as governor. Cuomo has in the past tacitly encouraged Republican control of the state Senate in New York. He’s bristled at challengers from the left in two most recent Democratic gubernatorial primaries. To a significant extent, he prides himself on his independence from the party broadly — an independence that is, of course, to at least some extent born of the natural sense of entitlement that his last name carries… He can stand apart from the Democratic Party because he doesn’t need its institutional power to be successful.”
Philip Bump, Washington Post

Contrary to his insistence otherwise, Cuomo is not a victim of ‘cancel culture,’ that meaningless phrase frequently invoked by the aggrieved when they discover that actions carry consequences. He is an elected official, facing serious allegations of sexual harassment, fostering a toxic workplace, and political malfeasance…

“His troubles began in late January, when New York attorney general Letitia James issued a report stating that Cuomo’s administration had covered up deaths in New York nursing homes amid the pandemic; they grew worse when an assemblyman came forward and said the governor threatened to ‘destroy’ him for publicly condemning the reports. Since then, numerous [women] — many of them former aides — have gone on the record to level misconduct allegations against the governor… In place of his image as a charismatic and skillful leader — an image Cuomo assiduously tried to cultivate during the pandemic — has emerged one of a brutish official.”
Amanda Arnold, The Cut

“Until mid-week, calls for Cuomo’s resignation or impeachment came almost exclusively from his political enemies. These include Republicans, but the GOP is just a rump party in New York State, where the Democrats hold a super-majority in both the state senate and the assembly. A sizeable and growing number of Democrats allied with the hard-left Democratic Socialist wing of the party consider Cuomo a sworn enemy…

“After the latest allegation, however, the worm has apparently turned… A letter signed by 59 Democratic state legislators calling for the governor’s immediate resignation was released Wednesday, crucially including the names of 19 state senators (not including Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who has called separately for Cuomo to resign). This number, if joined by all 20 senate Republicans, comes perilously close to the 42 votes that the state constitution requires for removal of a sitting governor, should the assembly impeach him.”
Seth Barron, City Journal

“Whatever it was that prompted Schumer and Gillibrand [to call for Cuomo’s resignation], the question is: What happens now? The hitch for Cuomo is that the nature of this scandal makes it impossible for him to deploy the methods he normally would to control it, i.e. he can’t have his people on the phone screaming at reporters and Democrats because that would just feed the narrative that he’s a bully. All he can really do is beg people to wait for the process to play out…

“But what exactly is the point if, as seems likely, the allegations are true. At some point I have to think it will dawn on him that delaying the inevitable in this case really does nothing but delay the inevitable… I’ll repeat what I said a few days ago. I think he’s done.”
John Sexton, Hot Air

“Undergirding these specific accusations is the widespread description of his administration by many former aides as a toxic workplace in which Mr. Cuomo and others ruled by fear and emotional abuse — and drew women whom Mr. Cuomo saw as attractive closer into his orbit, actively encouraging them to wear heels and dress in tightfitting clothing whenever he was around. In New York politics, Mr. Cuomo’s bullying style was an open secret. But the public caught only a glimpse of the dangers of Mr. Cuomo’s behavior recently…

“It is always preferable to let official investigations run their course, to establish evidence from accusation. If crimes were committed, they should be fairly adjudicated. But the question of the governor’s continued fitness for office is about more than a criminal matter, with different standards. The reality is that Mr. Cuomo has now lost the support of his party and his governing partners. The Democrats who control the State Legislature appear willing to impeach him, to say nothing of the Republicans. New York’s congressional delegation and city leaders, key to his base, have called on him to resign… At this point, it is hard to see how Mr. Cuomo can continue to do the public’s important business without political allies or public confidence.”
Editorial Board, New York Times

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