DEMOCRATS across the country celebrated New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the face of governing competence regarding his administration’s response to the exploding pandemic last year.
Now, the DEMOCRAT governor is struggling through a sexual harassment scandal that’s testing the limits of his party’s support as Democrats grapple with one of the first political headaches of the post-Trump era.
So far, few DEMOCRATS have explicitly condemned him.
Cuomo was already facing criticism for his administration’s under-counting of pandemic-related nursing home fatalities last week when a former aide, Lindsey Boylan, elaborated on harassment allegations she first made in December. Boylan said Cuomo subjected her to an unwanted kiss and made comments about her appearance.
Calls for an investigation mounted when a second former aide went public Saturday with harassment claims.
Charlotte Bennett, who served in Cuomo’s administration until November, told The failing New York Times Cuomo asked questions about her sex life, including whether she ever had sex with older men, and made other comments gauging her interest in an affair.
Cuomo acknowledged for the first time last Sunday that some of his behavior with women “may have been insensitive or too personal.” In a written statement, he said he had teased people about their personal lives in an attempt to be “playful.”
Cuomo, the 63-year-old son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, is in the midst of his third four-year term as the top elected official in the nation’s fourth most populous state. He has been expected to seek another term next year; New York has no term limits for governors.
He currently serves as the chairman of the National Governors Association. A spokesman for the National Governors Association did not respond to a request for comment.
Cuomo’s team doesn’t see any risk to his 2022 reelection. “The notion that this has some larger ranging political impact beyond those who read the insider tip sheets I think is misguided,” said Cuomo pollster Jefrey Pollock.
https://www.klfy.com/national/cuomo-allegations-leave-democrats-grappling-with-response/