UNITED States President Joe Biden, on Tuesday, called for the resignation of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York after the state’s attorney general found that Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, had sexually harassed multiple women.
Mr. Biden said, bluntly, “yes,” when asked at the White House if Mr. Cuomo should leave office, but stopped short of calling for him to be removed if he refuses to resign: “Let’s take one thing at a time.”
Mr. Cuomo, who is facing a criminal investigation by the Albany County prosecutor, has vowed to stay in office, calling the report biased and saying the “facts are much different from what has been portrayed.”
Mr. Biden, a longtime friend of Mr. Cuomo’s, had initially avoided addressing the accusations, and at first seemed content to stay on the sidelines of a growing rift between the Democratic Party and the increasingly isolated New York governor. Mr. Biden said that he had not spoken to Mr. Cuomo and that he had not read the full report on the harassment accusations: “All I know is the end result,” he said.
On Tuesday, the last of Mr. Cuomo’s allies began distancing themselves.
“As always, I commend the women who came forward to speak their truth,” Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, said in a statement. “Recognizing his love of New York and the respect for the office he holds, I call upon the Governor to resign.”
That only left Mr. Biden, who initially had emphasized the importance of an independent investigation to verify the claims. Asked in March about the accusations against Mr. Cuomo, the president told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News that the governor should resign if the investigation turned back evidence of harassment.
“Yes,” Mr. Biden said when asked whether Mr. Cuomo should resign based on the findings. “I think he’ll probably end up being prosecuted, too.”
On Tuesday, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, was also asked to expand on Mr. Biden’s feelings about the harassment. She would only offer her own.
“All women who have lived through this type of experience,” Ms. Psaki said, “harassment or abuse or, in the worst case, assault, deserve to have their voices heard. I don’t know that anyone could’ve watched this morning and not found the allegations to be abhorrent.”
– The New York Times
