'GROOMED' BY GOV
Cuomo accuser Charlotte Bennett brands NY gov a ‘textbook abuser’ who ‘let his temper rule the office’
ANDREW Cuomo accuser Charlotte Bennett has branded the New York governor a "textbook abuser" who "let his temper rule the office."
In a , that aired on Thursday night, Charlotte Bennett, 25, told anchor Norah O'Donnell about her experience with the governor.
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"He is a textbook abuser," the former aide said.
"He lets his temper and his anger rule the office, but he was very sweet to me for a year in the hopes that maybe one day, when he came onto me, I would think we were friends or that it was appropriate or that it was okay."
Bennett claiming he quizzed her about her sex life after she went to him for help as a survivor of sexual assault.
Her claims came three days after Lindsey Boylan, a former aide to the governor, claimed Cuomo and suggested they play strip poker.
On Friday morning, Boylan called on "bystanders" to activate and "say something" regarding the allegations.
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"I went to bed & woke up thinking about all the bystanders that make abuse possible," Boylan tweeted. "They watch it happen. They look away. They validate the abuser with support."
"We cannot change the past but we can heal & create a better future," she continued. "There are no bystanders in that better future."
She then called on the "bystanders" directly, saying: "Bystanders: you can be activated. You can do better. You can help make it right and end the abuse. End the abuse now. Say something. Do something."
After the two accusations, a third woman, , came forward and told The New York Times that Cuomo and asked to kiss her at a September 2019 wedding.
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Meanwhile, for the claims of sexual harassment but insisted he will not resign as he "never touched anyone inappropriately."
"I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable," Cuomo said.
"It was unintentional and I truly and deeply apologize for it. I feel awful about it and frankly I am embarrassed by it," he added.
During the Thursday night interview, Bennett claimed that Cuomo felt "untouchable" and seemed fixated on her rape trauma as he propositioned her for "sex."
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Anchor O'Donnell asked Bennett if she thought was "emboldened" by "national attention" on his coronavirus briefings.
“Absolutely," . "I think he felt like he was untouchable in a lot of ways."
Bennett also recalled that, in a May 15 conversation, he seemed focused on the fact that she survived sexual assault.
“So he goes, ‘You were raped. You were raped. You were raped and abused and assaulted,'” Bennett said.
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O'Donnell asked Bennett if she believes Cuomo was propositioning her.
"Yes," Bennett said.
"For what?" O'Donnell asked.
"Sex," the former aide said.
The anchor also asked Bennett what she was thinking when Cuomo asked her about her sex life in June, to which she responded, "I thought, he's trying to sleep with me."
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“The governor’s trying to sleep with me and I’m deeply uncomfortable and I have to get out of this room as soon as possible,” Bennett said.
O'Donnell asked Bennett to elaborate.
“Without explicitly saying it, he, he implied to me that I was old enough for him and he was lonely,” she said.
Bennett said she now believes that "Governor Cuomo groomed her."
When asked what Bennett wants to happen to the governor, O'Donnell said: "Charlotte Bennett worked with Governor Cuomo for several years – she wants the truth to come out.
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"She has spoken to other women who worked for Governor Cuomo who had similar experiences.
"She reported the behavior to Governor Cuomo's chief of staff, she describes those conversations with them and then what happened after she reported the alleged harassment.
"She is speaking out and describing those experiences in hopes of bringing about some change."
The former aide also told the anchor that she was "tasked" with finding Cuomo a girlfriend.
She claims she was called into the governors office on June 6, one day after she claims that he made it clear he wanted to "sleep with" her.
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“He asked me a few questions about how to use his iPhone and then sends me back to wait,” Bennett said.
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“And finally, he calls me back in and asks if I’ve found him a girlfriend yet. I said, ‘Not yet.’ I said I was working on it."
She claimed that Cuomo asked her to turn off her recorder. "And then he explains at that point that he is looking for a girlfriend,” she said. "He’s lonely. He’s tired."
Andrew Cuomo apologizes but ’embarrassed’ Gov WON’T resign as he ‘never touched anyone inappropriately’
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