Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York has tendered his resignation amidst the escalating sexual harassment scandal. The resignation will be effective in 14 days, and Democrat Gov.Kathy Hochul will replace him.
Before announcing his final decision, Mr. Cuomo said that stepping aside from the position would be favorable for him and the country as a whole. His drastic fall from power came as a shock, considering he received buckets of praise for his effective leadership last year.
The resignation of Andrew Cuomo comes in the wake of a report elicited by the New York State attorney general, which stated that the three-term Democrat has harassed more than a dozen women. According to the testimonies provided by the victims, Mr. Cuomo had also made unwarranted comments and engaged in inappropriate touching.
With the investigation reaching full circle, there was an increasing pressure on the 63-year-old governor to resign. Many of his close confidantes, including President Joe Biden, advised him to do the right thing: step back from his post.
Additionally, the findings from the report also provoked the State Assembly, – Mr. Cuomo’s last hope- to take immediate steps towards a crucial impeachment. Resultantly, the governor was left with little to no allies for backing.
Despite the resignation move, many people were pleasantly surprised to see Andrew Cuomo’s fallout moving forward faster than expected. Since the results of the investigation were made public, the Governor became seemingly more isolated by the day. Even his top advisor, Mellissa DeRosa stepped back from her post on Sunday.
And by the end of it, Mr. Cuomo didn’t have much of a choice but to follow what his advisors and former friends had said through it all: resign by his own will. By voluntarily resigning from his post, his talks of impeachment were hushed in the Democrat-dominated State Assembly.
However, Mr. Cuomo seemed the least bit perturbed by what had transpired in the course of the last five months. He gave a 21-minute speech, which was convoluted and defiant at most. Throughout his talk, the New York Governor scoffed at the effort to impeach him.
He even went on to affirm that his initial response to the matter was “to fight through this controversy” as it is politically motivated. With the political system being fraught by “the extremes,” the case seemed nothing less than a planned move, according to Cuomo.
The Democrat even claimed to take “full responsibility” for his actions as he refuted all allegations made by his victims. Instead, he termed those accusations as a product of generational differences and praised them for acknowledging his shortcomings.
During his speech, he made a special reference to his three daughters and affirmed that he has never disrespected a woman in his life. Even now, Andrew Cuomo is still faced with a case of legal liability, stemming from the allegation that he groped an assistant.
