Dem strategists question if Cuomo can survive ‘harassment’ scandal as he refuses to quit after FIVE accusers speak out
DEMOCRAT strategists have questioned if Gov Andrew Cuomo can survive his "harassment" scandal - as he refuses to resign after five accusers have spoken out.
The question comes as the defiant New York Governor insisted there is "no way" he will resign, despite a fifth woman coming forward to accuse him of sexual harassment.
Retired Dem strategist David Doak said on Sunday, according to : "One thing we’ve learned from watching Northam and several of these others is if you just don’t go anywhere, it’s hard to get rid of you.
"The question is, can you withstand the pressure?”
Ralph Northam was urged to resign over charges of racism, but still holds his position as the 73rd Governor of Virginia since January 13, 2018.
Another Dem strategist, George Arzt, also commented how he suspects Cuomo will respond to the pressure," according to the report.
The calls to resign come as:
- Charlamagne Tha God says
- At least over ongoing controversy
- Cuomo accuser says gov ' course'
- Charlotte Bennett claims
"If anyone could get through it, it’s Andrew. The man is a master tactician," Arzt said, calling the nursing home and harassment scandals the governor's "twin nightmares."
Former Clinton White House staffer Chris Lehan reportedly posed a different question for Cuomo.
"Your North Star’s ultimately going to be credibility. Can you earn back trust?" he asked. "If you effectively do that, then you want to be able to buy yourself some time by using the processes that are available that, in effect, extend the time window on this."
Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie dubbed the allegations against the governor "deeply disturbing" in a statement on Sunday.
He said: "I think it is time for the Governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York."
The embattled governor's refusal to stand aside comes even as one of New York's top Democrats, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, has called on him to resign.
warned that it is "damaging to publicize allegations before you know they are credible" in a press conference on Sunday.
"There is no way I resign. Let the attorney general do her investigation," Cuomo said on the conference call, .
Shortly after Cuomo's comments, Stewart-Cousins, New York's Senate Majority Leader, issued a statement calling on the governor to step down.
"New York is still in the midst of this pandemic and is still facing the societal, health and economic impacts of it," the statement says.
The question is, can you withstand the pressure?
Dem strategist David Doak
"We need to govern without daily distraction. For the good of the state Governor Cuomo must resign."
Earlier this week, when with allegations against the governor, Stewart-Cousins said if any others went public with accusations, it would be "time to resign."
New York Sen Liz Kreuger also called on Cuomo to resign on Sunday afternoon.
"I stand with Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins in calling for the Governor to resign," she wrote on Twitter.
"Our state is rightly crying out for truthful, transparent government. The people's business is too pressing to continue to be derailed in this way."
In addition to the three women who had already come forward with allegations against Cuomo, former employees Ana Liss, 35, and Karen Hinton, 62, .
Cuomo acknowledged those comments during his conference on Sunday.
He said that Liss is someone he took a photo with, and Hinton is a "long-time political adversary," who the administration has reportedly had trouble with in the past, according to a previous statement from the governor's office.
Liss, who worked as a policy and operations aide to between 2013 and 2015, accused the governor of calling her sweetheart and once kissing her hand at work, according to
She also accused the governor of asking if she was in a relationship and touching her lower back during an event.
Liss told The Journal that she first took Cuomo's behavior as "harmless flirtations."
Her views later changed, making her feel like "just a skirt," which Liss noted is "not appropriate, really, in any setting."
's representative Jack Stern issued a statement to The Sun on Saturday night on behalf of the governor's Senior Advisor Rich Azzopardi.
"Reporters and photographers have covered the governor for 14 years watching him kiss men and women and posing for pictures," it read.
"At the public open-house mansion reception, there are hundreds of people, and he poses for hundreds of pictures. That’s what people in politics do."
In addition to Liss, another woman opened up this weekend about her experience working with Cuomo over two decades ago.
A former press aide for Cuomo, 62-year-old Karen Hinton, has alleged the governor summoned her to his "dimly-lit" hotel room and hugged her after a work event about 21 years ago, reported.
Hinton told the news outlet that she was a consultant for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, which was run by Cuomo, at the time of the incident.
She claimed to have resisted when Cuomo embraced her but he continued to pull her close to his body, according to the report.
The Post also reported that two former Cuomo aides, both male, were "routinely berated with explicit language."
They alleged Cuomo called them "p***ies" and said they "have no balls."
Stern issued another statement to The Sun on the Director of Communications for the Governor's behalf, regarding Hinton's claims.
Peter Ajemian said in the statement: "This did not happen.
"Karen Hinton is a known antagonist of the Governor's who is attempting to take advantage of this moment to score cheap points with made up allegations from 21 years ago.
"All women have the right to come forward and tell their story -- however, it's also the responsibility of the press to consider self-motivation. This is reckless."
"The people of this state elected the Governor to represent them four times during the last 14 years and they know he works day and night for them," added Azzopardi.
Cuomo responded to the "harassment" claims earlier this week and revealed he was "embarrassed."
During a remote briefing mid-week, Cuomo said: "I understand sensitivities have changed, behaviors have changed, and I’m going to learn from it."
Three other accusers, former aides Charlotte Bennett and Lindsay Boylan, as well as another woman Anna Ruch, had previously come forward with allegations against Cuomo.
Bennett said the governor would ask her inappropriate questions about her sex life, he kissed her on one occasion, and brought up playing strip poker on another.
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Ruch said the governor grabbed her cheeks and , and that it was the first time they'd ever met.
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The three women's accusations prompted calls for the New York boss to quit, even before two more women came forward.
At least in the past week over the sexual harassment allegations and Covid nursing home scandal while calls mount for the governor to resign.