In a video announcement Tuesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned from his position in the wake of a series of substantiated sexual harassment allegations. The resignation will take effect in two weeks.
“Given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to government, and therefore that is what I’ll do, because I work for you, and doing the right thing, is doing the right thing for you,” Cuomo said in a televised address.
He also directly addressed his daughters in his resignation speech. “I want them to know, from the bottom of my heart: I never did, and I never would, intentionally disrespect a woman or treat a woman differently than I would want them treated,” Cuomo said. “Your dad made mistakes. And he apologized. And he learned from it. And that’s what life is all about.”
The resignation comes as talks of impeachment intensified in the New York State Assembly. Those talks, resulting from a state attorney general report that found Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women.
The investigation found he kissed women non-consensually, groped their breasts or buttocks, made insinuating remarks about their looks and their sex lives, and created a work environment “rife with fear and intimidation.”
Cuomo called some of the allegations fabricated, denying he touched anyone inappropriately. However, he did admit to making some aides uncomfortable with comments he said he intended as playful. “I take full responsibility for my actions,” Cuomo said. “I have been too familiar with people. My sense of humor can be insensitive and off-putting. I do hug and kiss people casually, women and men. I have done it all my life.”
He portrayed some of the encounters as misunderstandings attributable to “generational or cultural” differences. “I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo could still be criminally charged. Some prosecutors in the state plan to investigate him.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is investigating the state’s handling of data on nursing home deaths, and the state attorney general is looking into whether Cuomo broke the law in using members of his staff to help write and promote his book while on company time.
Once Cuomo’s resignation becomes effective, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will become New York’s 57th governor and the first woman to hold the post.
