ALBANY, NY (AP) – Faced with unprecedented political isolation, defiant New York government Andrew Cuomo insisted on Friday that he would not resign in the wake of sexual harassment allegations and condemned the sprawling coalition of Democrats that called for his resignation as ‘reckless’. and dangerous. “
The third-term Democratic governor, a leading critic of former President Donald Trump’s pandemic response, called on the Republican by defending herself against “ canceling culture. ”
“I’m not going to quit my job,” Cuomo said during an afternoon meeting with reporters. “I have not done what is said. Period.”
He added, “People know the difference between playing politics, bending over to culture and canceling the truth.”
The controversial governor’s comments came on the day his party in New York and beyond turned sharply against him following allegations of intimidation and sweeping criticism. from Cuomo for keeping a secret how many nursing home residents died from COVID-19 for months.
Cuomo’s growing roster of opponents now includes virtually every region in the state and the political power centers of New York City and Washington. A majority of Democrats in the state legislature and 21 of the 27 members of the US house of the state have called for him to resign.
The escalating political crisis jeopardizes Cuomo’s 2022 reelection in a predominantly democratic state and threatens to cast a cloud over President Joe Biden’s early days. Republicans across the country have taken the scandal to try to distract from Biden’s success with the pandemic and challenge his party’s established advantage among female voters.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, declined to comment on Cuomo’s crisis on Friday but stood alongside Biden in a Rose Garden ceremony honoring the passage of the Democrat-backed $ 1 pandemic bill , 9 trillion.
Hours earlier, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to say whether President Biden thinks Cuomo should step down. She said that any woman who has come out about harassment by the New York governor “deserves to have her voice heard, be treated with respect, and be able to tell her story.”
Dozens of Democrats had already called for Cuomo to resign this week, but the coalition of critics expanded both geographically and politically on Friday to include the progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City; the leader of the House Democratic campaign arm, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney; Rep. Brian Higgins from Buffalo; and a group of Long Island state lawmakers who had been loyal Cuomo allies.
Never before has the cheeky 63-year-old Democratic governor, himself the son of a New York governor, been so politically alone.
“The victims of sexual assault worry me more than politics or other narrow-minded considerations, and I think Governor Cuomo should step aside,” Maloney said.
Ocasio-Cortez said she believes the women who accused Cuomo of misconduct.
“After two reports of sexual assault, four reports of harassment, the attorney general’s investigation found that the governor’s administration was hiding nursing home data from the legislature and the public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York state legislature that the governor must resign, ”she tweeted.
Cuomo insisted on Friday that he had never touched anyone inappropriately, saying again that he was sorry if he ever made anyone feel uncomfortable. He declined to answer a direct question about whether he had a consensual romantic relationship with any of the women.
“I haven’t had a sexual relationship that was inappropriate, period,” he said.
The governor has been calling lawmakers and supporters in recent days not to ask them to resign and instead support the ongoing investigations. His strategy doesn’t seem to be working.
The state assembly on Thursday allowed an investigation into Cuomo, while lawmakers are investigating grounds for his forced resignation from office.
The firestorm around the governor grew after Albany’s Times Union reported Wednesday that an unidentified assistant claimed that Cuomo reached under her shirt and stroked her at his official residence late last year.
The woman has not filed a criminal complaint, but a governor’s lawyer said on Thursday that the state had reported the accusation to Albany police after the woman concerned herself denied it.
In addition, Cuomo faces multiple allegations of sexually suggestive comments and behavior towards women, including female assistants. An assistant said he asked her if she would ever have sex with an older man. And another assistant claimed the governor once kissed her without permission, saying that the governor’s aides publicly smeared her after accusing him of sexual harassment.
The governor vowed on Friday that he will still be able to rule, despite a growing list of elected New York officials who say they have lost faith in his ability to rule.
Cuomo failed to address the reality of an increasingly untenable position: He is seeking a fourth term next year, managing the state’s pandemic response, and negotiating a state budget with state legislators who have lost faith in his leadership.
He again questioned the motives of women who accused him of inappropriate behavior.
“A lot of people are claiming a lot of things for different reasons,” he said Friday. ‘I will not speculate about people’s possible motives. But I can tell you as a former Attorney General who has been through this situation many times over, there are often many reasons to make an allegation. And that’s why you need to know the facts before making a decision. “
“Serious accusations have to be seriously weighed, right?” he said. “That’s why they are called serious.”
But dozens of Democrats have already determined the charges are serious enough to warrant his immediate removal. Other Republicans in the New York congressional delegation have previously called for Cuomo’s resignation, including Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, Claudia Tenney and Lee Zeldin.
Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler, who chairs the dominant US House Judiciary Committee, said Cuomo has lost the confidence of the New Yorkers.
“The repeated allegations against the governor, and the way he has responded to them, have made it impossible for him to continue to rule on this point,” said Nadler.
A spokesman for New York Democratic US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
AP writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed.