New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio became the latest Democratic lawmaker to call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign after a sixth woman accused him of sexual misconduct.
After the Albany Times Union reported that a woman accused Cuomo of reaching under her blouse and touching her at his Executive Mansion last year, de Blasio said that the governor “could no longer serve.”
“The specific allegation that the governor called an employee of his, someone who he had power over, called her to a private place and then sexually assaulted her is absolutely unacceptable,” de Blasio told reporters Thursday outside of New York City Hall. “He can no longer serve as governor. It’s as simple as that.”
In addition to the accusations of sexual harassment, Cuomo also faces allegations that he covered up the amount of nursing home coronavirus deaths in his state to make his response to the pandemic seem more successful than it was.
Multiple New York Democratic lawmakers and the Times Union have already called on Cuomo to resign.
Cuomo has denied ever touching anybody inappropriately, and said that he has “never done anything like this” in a statement Wednesday night. “The details of this report are gut-wrenching. I am not going to speak to the specifics of this or any other allegation given the ongoing review.”
In addition to the multiple sexual misconduct allegations Cuomo faces, his administration also altered state reports to reflect a smaller number of nursing home coronavirus deaths and make it seem like his administration’s policies were more effective than they were.