Democrats demand Cuomo’s resignation

Following the New York attorney general’s report exposing allegations of a pattern of sexual harassment from Andrew Cuomo, many Democrats have aligned against the three-term governor. President Joe Biden told reporters Cuomo should resign, joining Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, both of New York; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; and multiple Democratic governors. The State Assembly debated for hours on Tuesday over whether to impeach the governor or wait for the Judiciary Committee to complete its inquiry into Cuomo’s book deal and accusations of hiding the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. According to a count by the Associated Press, a majority of Assembly members have said they support impeachment if Cuomo doesn’t resign.

What has Cuomo said? The governor apologized for making staff feel uncomfortable but denied allegations of groping and inappropriate comments. He called the report by the state’s Democratic attorney general, Letitia James, politically biased. In a pre-recorded message on Tuesday, he displayed a slideshow of him hugging members of the public and calling it a normal cultural practice in his Italian-American family. The report also said the governor’s brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, might have used confidential information to advise him on how to respond to the accusations.

Dig deeper: Read a Saturday Series report on Cuomo’s policies that might have worsened nursing home coronavirus outbreaks.