President Joe Biden said that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo should resign if the state’s investigation confirms that sexual harassment allegations against him.
"I know you said you want the investigation to continue," ABC News host George Stephanopoulos said in an interview with Biden, referring to New York Attorney General Letitia James’ probe. "If the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign?"
"Yes," Biden replied. "I think he'll probably end up being prosecuted, too."
"There should be an investigation to determine whether what she says is true," he added. "That's what's going on now."
Seven women have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. One woman alleged that Cuomo groped her, which has been referred to the Albany police.
Nearly every member of New York’s Democratic congressional delegation, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have called for Cuomo to immediately resign.
"Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, the majority of the congressional delegation don't think he can be an effective governor right now," Stephanopoulos asked. "Can he serve effectively?"
"Well, that's a judgment for them to make," Biden replied.
"A woman should be presumed telling the truth and should not be scapegoated and become victimized by her coming forward,” he said. "Takes a lot of courage to come forward. So, the presumption is they should be taken seriously. And it should be investigated. And that's what's underway now."
Pelosi joins Biden:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who previously said that Cuomo should “look inside his heart” to “see if he can govern effectively,” went further in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday.
“We have zero tolerance for the behavior that is alleged against the governor, and again, I think he is a supporter of zero tolerance in terms of sexual harassment,” she said.
“So it would follow that if you have zero tolerance, that would be a decision that we hope the governor would make,” she added.
Cuomo aides tried to disparage accuser:
The comments came on the same day that The New York Times reported that Cuomo aides and allies circulated a letter attacking former aide Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Cuomo.
The letter attacked Boylan’s credibility and disclosed personnel complaints filed against her. It also tried to link her to supporters of Donald Trump.
“Weaponizing a claim of sexual harassment for personal political gain or to achieve notoriety cannot be tolerated,” the letter said.. “False claims demean the veracity of credible claims.”
Cuomo was involved in creating the letter, according to the report. It’s unclear how many people were asked to sign the letter.
The letter was ultimately never released.
Cuomo has denied the most serious allegations while arguing that his flirtatious remarks to young female aides were misconstrued.
“I believe a woman has the right to come forward and express her opinion and express issues and concerns that she has,” Cuomo said in response to Boylan’s claim. “But it’s just not true.”
