Cuomo: Politicians calling for him to resign are ‘reckless’

“You need to know the facts before you make a decision,” he said. “People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth.”

Listen to Cuomo’s conference call in its entirety here. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called Friday on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign, adding the most powerful Democratic voices yet to calls for the governor to leave office in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment and groping.

“Confronting and overcoming the Covid crisis requires sure and steady leadership. We commend the brave actions of the individuals who have come forward with serious allegations of abuse and misconduct,” New York’s two U.S. senators said in a joint statement. “Due to the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it is clear that Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and the people of New York. Governor Cuomo should resign.”
  
Both had earlier said an independent investigation into the allegations against Cuomo was essential.

A majority of state lawmakers had already called on Cuomo to resign, and more than half of New York’s Democratic congressional members joined those calls Friday.

Friday evening, Rep. Joe Morelle (D, NY-25) called for Cuomo to resign:

“The allegations against Governor Cuomo are deeply troubling. It has become clear that he cannot continue to effectively govern and provide the leadership our state needs during this critical time. For the good of all New Yorkers, the Governor should step down so that we can focus on the important issues facing our communities.”

Cuomo’s growing list of detractors now covers virtually every region in the state and the political power centers of New York City and Washington. His allies insist he will not resign, but as allegations of sexual harassment grow, his political isolation has reached unprecedented levels.

“The victims of sexual assault concern me more than politics or other narrow considerations, and I believe Governor Cuomo must step aside,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a New York Democrat who leads his party’s House campaign arm.

Prominent progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said she believes the women who have accused the three-term Democratic governor of wrongdoing.

“After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney General’s investigation finding the Governor’s admin hid nursing home data from the legislature and public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

Cuomo has denied he ever touched anyone inappropriately and has said he’s sorry if he ever made anyone uncomfortable. He reiterated that Friday while insisting: “I never harassed anyone. I never assaulted anyone. I never abused anyone.”

But, he said, “what is being alleged simply did not happen.”

The escalating scandal jeopardizes Cuomo’s 2022 reelection in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, but also threatens to cast a cloud over President Joe Biden’s earliest days in office. Republicans across the country have seized on the growing allegations against Cuomo to try to distract from Biden’s success with the pandemic and challenge his party’s well-established advantage with female voters.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki has repeatedly said that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris support the state attorney general’s investigation into the harassment allegations.

The governor in recent days has been calling lawmakers and supporters asking them to refrain from calling for his resignation, and instead support the ongoing investigations. His strategy does not appear to be working.

The state Assembly allowed an impeachment investigation into Cuomo on Thursday as lawmakers investigate whether there are grounds for his forcible removal from office.

Along with an allegation that the governor groped a female aide at the Executive Mansion last year, Cuomo is facing allegations of sexually suggestive remarks and behavior toward women, including female aides. One aide said he asked her if she would ever have sex with an older man. And another aide claimed the governor once kissed her without consent, and said governor’s aides publicly smeared her after she accused him of sexual harassment.

In weeks past, calls for the governor’s impeachment or resignation have come from Republicans or left-leaning Democrats in New York City. But more Democratic lawmakers from surrounding and upstate communities have joined in as the week progressed.

A majority of state lawmakers and more than half of New York’s Democratic congressional members are now calling for him to step down.

On Friday, U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler, Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, Mondaire Jones, Nydia Velazquez, Adriano Espaillat, Carolyn Maloney,…