“It Sickened Me”: NYC Mayor to Cuomo’s Sexual Harassment AllegationsNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the allegations surrounding Gov. Andrew Cuomo “sickened” him.
"It sickened me, it sickened me," de Blasio says about sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo. "The thought of a powerful man tryin to take advantage of his power, intimidate a young woman…"
— Madina Touré (@madinatoure) March 1, 2021
In an interview with NY City radio station, Hot 97, de Blasio did not mince words when asked about the recent allegations surrounding his state’s governor, as he said the allegations “sickened him.” He also called for a “full investigation into the accusations surrounding Cuomo and stated that the governor’s behavior was “disgusting” and “creepy” if true.
De Blasio said, “It sickened me, it sickened me.” He continued, “The thought of a powerful man trying to take advantage of his power, intimidate a young woman and just the sense that he was treating her like — again these are allegations and we need a full investigation — but if that was what truly happened it was like he was treating her like she was his property. Just disgusting, creepy.”
De Blasio also went on to criticize the statement made by Cuomo last Sunday in response to the sexual harassment scandal that he is facing. In his statement, the governor insisted that he “sometimes” believed he was merely “being playful” at work and that he would “make jokes” he considers “funny.
"Sexual harassment is not funny… who the hell tries to explain that by saying I was just joking around," the mayor says, criticizing Cuomo's latest statement on the allegations.
— Madina Touré (@madinatoure) March 1, 2021
The New York City Mayor then responded to this comments made by Cuomo and said “Sexual harassment is not funny. Who the hell tries to explain that by saying I was just joking around?”
“I’ve seen him be abusive in a way that would not be accepted by anyone in leadership,” de Blasio said in the interview.
The Mayor also added that he had previously heard Cuomo using the same language he allegedly used with Assemblyman Ron Kim in a now-infamous phone call.
In a span of few days, Cuomo received series of sexual accusations from two former aides, Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett. The two former aides made statements about their experience of Cuomo sexually harassing them while they were working in his office. The allegations surfaced during the nursing home scandal that already badly battered Cuomo.
In the said radio interview, de Blasio also the New York State legislature for the revocation of Cuomo’s emergency powers amid the scandals.
As of the moment, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing heightened pressure from both parties in the wake of the sexual harassment allegations that were thrown at him by two former aides.
The Democratic governor has been a target if criticism in the past few days from Republicans such as Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) as well as other members of Cuomo’s
own party at the local, federal, and state level.
Stefanik said in a statement “Gov. Cuomo is a criminal sexual predator and he must immediately resign.”
According to the report by New York Times, Bennett alleged that Cuomo asked her sensitive questions about her sex life as well as whether she was monogamous in her relationships and if she had ever had sex with older men.
The 25-year-old staffer also described to the New York Times that the incident happened in June when she was alone with Cuomo in his State Capitol office.
Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett’s detailed accounts of sexual harassment by Gov. Cuomo are extremely serious and painful to read.
There must be an independent investigation – not one led by an individual selected by the Governor, but by the office of the Attorney General.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 28, 2021
In addition to this, Cuomo also allegedly asked Bennett if she thought age made a difference in romantic relationships and that he was open to having relationships with women in their 20s, which were noted by the Times as “comments she interpreted as clear overtures to a sexual relationship.”
In response to these allegations, Cuomo said that the “never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did he ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.”
Bennett’s allegations followed claims made by former Cuomo staffer Lindsey Boylan, who accused the governor of going “out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs,” kissing her while they were alone in his office, and suggesting that they “play strip poker” during a plane ride.
