Bye, Andrew Cuomo! New York Governor Resigns in Disgrace

Disgraced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gave a long and winding press conference today, eventually ending with the announcement that he would be resigning.

The press conference was nearly an hour long, starting with a briefing from Cuomo’s attorney, who attacked the report from New York Attorney General Letitia James, which concluded that Cuomo had broken state and federal laws by sexually harassing female employees and creating a hostile work environment.

That attorney, Rita Glavin, spoke at length about the report, claiming it “contains errors and omits key evidence.” Then Cuomo came on to “apologize” for “offending” the eleven women named in the report. He spoke specifically about his encounters with a female state trooper who accused him of making inappropriate sexual comments and touching her inappropriately, going into extensive detail, explaining that he was sorry for making her feel uncomfortable but also going to great lengths to explain why what he did wasn’t that bad.

After that, he opined about how the investigation into him is politically motivated, the political discourse has become too “hot,” and how Twitter has ruined everything.

After all of that, he said he was resigning.

Cuomo insisted that he never crossed a line with any women, something at least 11 women have gone on record to disagree with. Cuomo did, however, say he didn’t realize “the extent to which the line has been redrawn.” The behavior described in the AG’s report involves kissing, groping, and making sexually suggestive comments to female employees and other women. Those things have always been on the far side of the “line” and claiming otherwise is as disingenuous and manipulative as you might expect from a man who then launched into an extended “father of daughters” prattling.

While he maintained that he hasn’t done anything worth resigning over, he says he wants to avoid the extended political circus that would come with impeachment proceedings. He insists that his resignation is the best thing he can do for the people of New York, which is something Cuomo and I actually agree on.

Cuomo’s resignation takes effect in two weeks, at which point, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul will step in, becoming the state’s first female governor.

When James released her report, Hochul called Cuomo’s behavior “repulsive” and “unlawful” but given her position as his potential successor, she declined to speak further about whether or not she thought he should resign.

(image: screencap)

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Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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