Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand joined a swiftly rising group of Democratic New York lawmakers calling on New Yo
Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand joined a swiftly rising group of Democratic New York lawmakers calling on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign on Friday over allegations of sexual misconduct and distortion of Covid-19 mortality information.
The quickly escalating strain on Cuomo by politicians from his personal occasion has raised questions over whether or not he’ll be capable to govern successfully at a time when he has been tasked with overseeing the state’s administration of a posh public well being disaster, together with the deployment of Covid-19 vaccines and safely reopening companies.
It has additionally proven that Democrats are keen to unite in opposition towards a distinguished member of their very own occasion dealing with accusations of sexual harassment, holding their very own members to account in a fashion akin to how they’ve handled Republicans accused of misconduct.
“We commend the courageous actions of the people who’ve come ahead with severe allegations of abuse and misconduct,” Schumer and Gillibrand mentioned in a joint assertion. “Because of the a number of, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it’s clear that Governor Cuomo has misplaced the arrogance of his governing companions and the folks of New York. Governor Cuomo ought to resign.”
Additionally on Friday, 16 different members of New York’s 19-person Democratic Home delegation — together with Home Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler and progressive chief Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — referred to as on him to resign.
These representatives who didn’t explicitly demand his resignation supplied Cuomo little comfort. Reps. Tom Suozzi and Gregory Meeks mentioned that if Cuomo couldn’t govern successfully, he ought to step down. In the meantime, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries referred to as the allegations “deeply disturbing” and backed investigations into his conduct — however in the end referred to as for Cuomo himself to mirror on “whether or not he can proceed to successfully lead the state.”
On the exact same day, New York journal and the New York Occasions revealed investigations which indicated that Cuomo has fostered a poorly managed and abusive work atmosphere on the governor’s mansion. “In interviews over the previous week, greater than 35 individuals who have labored in Mr. Cuomo’s govt chamber described the workplace as deeply chaotic, unprofessional and poisonous, particularly for younger ladies,” the Occasions reported.
At the moment, New York Lawyer Basic Letitia James is overseeing an unbiased investigation into the sexual harassment claims towards Cuomo, which kicked off when former aide Lindsey Boylan claimed in February that he kissed her on the lips towards her will in 2018. Her assertion was then adopted by numerous different allegations of misconduct from ladies, together with a former aide who has accused him of groping her at his personal residence and one other aide who mentioned he successfully propositioned her within the method during which he inquired about her intercourse life.
This week the New York State Meeting additionally opened an impeachment inquiry into Cuomo’s conduct over the sexual misconduct claims and proof that he appeared to cover the true loss of life toll of nursing dwelling residents within the state brought on by Covid-19. On Thursday over 50 Democrats of the New York state Senate and Meeting mentioned that Cuomo has “misplaced the arrogance of the general public” and referred to as for him to step down.
However Cuomo resisted the rising requires his resignation on Friday, and described efforts to drive him from workplace as “cancel tradition.” He denied harassment and abuse and remained resolute about his intention to remain in workplace. “I didn’t do what has been alleged, interval,” he mentioned throughout a press convention.
“I’m assured that when New Yorkers know the info from the assessment, I’m assured within the determination based mostly on the info,” he mentioned. “However await the info. An opinion with out info is irresponsible.”
Cuomo’s political fortunes have modified dramatically because the earlier phases of the pandemic, when he projected calm confidence to the general public in press conferences that gained him reward amongst Democrats and even an Emmy. Now buzz a couple of 2024 presidential run has been changed by questions of whether or not he’ll survive his present time period in workplace.
The Cuomo allegations have examined Democrats’ dedication to addressing sexual harassment
As Vox’s Anna North has famous, Democrats have, at instances, appeared extra hesitant to behave on allegations of misconduct towards members of their very own occasion than they had been towards Republicans accused of sexual abuse like former President Donald Trump or Supreme Courtroom Justice Brett Kavanaugh:
When a number of ladies got here ahead in 2017 to report undesirable touching or kissing by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), a number of Democratic senators, together with Gillibrand and then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), referred to as on him to resign. However Gillibrand, specifically, later confronted political blowback for the choice, with donors pulling again from her.
In 2020, when Tara Reade got here ahead to report that Joe Biden had sexually assaulted her in 1993, Democrats — together with Gillibrand — largely defended him (a activity made simpler, maybe, by the truth that Reade confronted questions on her altering accounts of Biden’s actions in addition to her earlier writings on Russia).
Now Biden is president, Democrats management Congress, and Trump is now not within the White Home or on Twitter to remind People of the allegations towards him. And what Democrats do about Cuomo will probably be, to a point, a take a look at of how critically they take sexual harassment allegations in an period after they’re in energy.
More and more, New York Democrats are signaling that they won’t tolerate the sorts of allegations Cuomo faces.
There are additionally different components contributing to Democrats’ determination to push for Cuomo’s resignation. Earlier than a number of claims of sexual misconduct surfaced, the scandal over Cuomo’s suppression of Covid-19 loss of life information critically undermined his status as an efficient and reliable policymaker on his signature subject of the final 12 months.
And crucially, Cuomo’s slide has been accelerated by his acrimonious relationships with New York Democrats nicely earlier than any scandal emerged. For instance, New York Meeting member Ron Kim mentioned that after he criticized Cuomo’s dealing with of the nursing dwelling fatality information, he obtained a telephone name from Cuomo throughout which the governor spent “ten minutes threatening my profession and ordering me to subject an announcement that might be used to cowl for the state secretary.”
Because the New Republic’s Clio Chang and Alex Shephard clarify, many Democrats have lengthy been fed up with Cuomo’s adversarial relationship along with his personal occasion:
Whereas the State Meeting has largely remained extra loyal than the Senate, which is kind of in open riot, Cuomo has spent a decade in workplace bullying, cajoling, and humiliating politicians sitting in these our bodies. A part of what we’re seeing now’s payback. Thanks partly to Cuomo’s determination to single-handedly forestall a Democratic majority from taking maintain within the Senate for a number of years, there’s a rare quantity of dangerous blood.
Whether or not Cuomo will resign is an open query. However it’s clear that his status and political capital had been extra fragile than generally believed, and so they’ve taken an unlimited and irreversible hit.