Pushed to resign because of accusations of harassment, the governor of the State of New York Andrew Cuomo assured in his farewell speech Monday to be the victim of a political and media “frenzy”.
“There has been a political and media boom. But the truth will eventually come out, I’m sure,” said in a pre-recorded message the 63-year-old man, head of state which houses the America’s cultural and financial lung.
The fall is dizzying for this descendant of Italian immigrants, fed into politics by his father Mario Cuomo, who was governor of the state for three terms before him (1983-1994), and who was expected to do better by aiming for a fourth term in 2022.
It is especially at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, in the spring of 2020, when New York was hit hard by the Covid-19, that Andrew Cuomo acquired the status of national star.
With his daily, rational and reassuring press briefings, this experienced but reputedly hard and authoritarian politician had changed dimension, embodying the antithesis of Donald Trump, whose announcements on the health crisis were seen as erratic.
But a year later, this status had been weakened by the first testimonies of sexual harassment, pushing the politician to accept that the services of his state conduct an independent investigation into these accusations.
The investigations, contained in a 168-page report and unveiled in early August, concluded that Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed eleven women, the majority of whom were collaborators and employees, listing many inappropriate gestures or attitudes.
The governor has always rejected these accusations. But under pressure from calls to resign from his own political camp, including President Biden, he announced on August 10 that he would step down.
In his farewell speech, he lamented a “media frenzy” that was “neither fair, nor equitable, nor sustainable.” “No governor in the country has passed as many progressive measures as I have.” he is congratulated, extolling among other things the legalization of marriage for all or the minimum wage of 15 dollars an hour.
Andrew Cuomo will be replaced on Tuesday by Kathy Hochul, also a Democrat. She will be the first woman to hold this position.
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