Rep. Lee Zeldin, the likely 2022 New York GOP gubernatorial nominee, says Gov. Andrew Cuomo needs to leave office one way or another.
The Long Island congressman, who has virtually secured the Republican nomination next year by scooping up endorsements from party insiders statewide, on Tuesday said Cuomo should resign from office. If not, Zeldin said, the state Legislature should impeach and remove Cuomo.
Zeldin’s statements came after New York Attorney General Letitia James released a report describing multiple women who alleged the governor sexually harassed them.
NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC HOUSE MEMBERS CALL FOR CUOMO TO RESIGN
Zeldin joins top New York Democrats in calling for Cuomo’s resignation, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
“Andrew Cuomo must resign or be impeached. Cuomo institutionalized widespread abuse within his administration and tried to silence his many victims, which enabled him to continue openly preying on those around him,” Zeldin said in a statement. Zeldin, elected to the House in 2014, added that if Cuomo does not resign, then “Democrats running the State Legislature in Albany must impeach him. If they don’t impeach him, we must hold Governor Cuomo and every single person who has enabled him accountable at the ballot box on Election Day 2022.”
During a Tuesday news conference, James told reporters that her office of investigators found all 11 women who stepped forward to report Cuomo’s behavior “to be credible.”
James said the work of her office has concluded, adding that any subsequent phases following the report are “up to the governor, and/or the Assembly, and the general public.” The New York attorney general will not engage in any “criminal investigation with respect to the conduct of the governor,” she declared, saying that “any prosecutors or police departments can look at the evidence and determine if they want to take further action.”
Other New York Republicans on Tuesday reiterated their calls for Cuomo to resign immediately or for the state Legislature to impeach him following James’s report, including Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay and Reps. Elise Stefanik and Claudia Tenney.
Cuomo denied the accusations made by the 11 women following James’s press conference, claiming that his encounters were either misinterpreted as malicious or never happened at all.
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“I do kiss people on the cheek. I do kiss people on the hand. I do embrace people. I do hug people, men and women. I do on occasion say, ‘Ciao, bella,’” he said. “On occasion, I do slip and say sweetheart or darling or honey. I do banter with people. I do tell jokes — some better than others. I am the same person in public as I am in private.”
Cuomo is also under scrutiny for his handling of COVID-19 patients whom he mandated to be sent to nursing homes last year, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of residents in those facilities. The governor must also account for a multimillion-dollar book deal related to allegations that he misused state resources to create and promote it.
“Whether it’s the deadly nursing home order and cover-up, his absurd $5.1 million self-congratulatory book deal, or rampant sexual harassment, abuse, and intimidation, New York needs new leadership to restore our state to glory, rather than govern scandal to scandal,” Zeldin said. “New Yorkers need a governor who will put their priorities first, not prioritize self-preservation in the face of endless misconduct. This is a crisis of leadership, and it’s up to every New Yorker to hold Cuomo accountable and save our state.”
