House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview on Sunday in response to sexual harassment allegations against New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo that women should be believed but didn’t call for his resignation.
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During an appearance on ABC’s This Week Pelosi said Cuomo should self-reflect on whether he can do his job “effectively,” CNN reported.
When ABC’s George Stephanopoulos pressed the issue of whether Pelosi would call for his resignation, she responded, “I think we should see the results [of the investigation], but he may decide – and hopefully this result will be soon – and what I’m saying is the governor should look inside his heart – he loves New York – to see if he can govern effectively.”
“What I said at the time that these revelations came forward, I said what these women have said must be treated with respect. They are credible and serious charges, and then I called for an investigation. I have confidence in the attorney general of New York,” Pelosi said.
She added, “Again, with all respect in the world for what these women have come forward and said.”
Cuomo has faced public backlash for how his administration handled COVID-19 related deaths at a nursing home on top of allegations of sexual harassment. Now 13 House Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who noted the “multiple, serious, credible allegations of abuse so that Gov. Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and so many New Yorkers, so for the good of the state, he should resign,” are asking for the governor to step down.
But per theGrio, Cuomo refused to resign, saying that “New Yorkers know me” and that his critics were “bowing to cancel culture.”
“I am not going to resign. I was not elected by the politicians, I was elected by the people,” Cuomo told CNN recently.
“I am confident that when New Yorkers know the facts from the review, I am confident in the decision based on the facts but wait for the facts. An opinion without facts is irresponsible.”
On Friday, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, and Jerry Nadler of New York issued statements calling for Cuomo’s resignation.
Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman, in a joint statement, claimed Cuomo “can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges.” Nadler commended the “bravery” of the women who have publically come forward.
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“There is a difference between formal investigations that may end in criminal charges and a question of confidence in our political leadership. The question before us is squarely a political judgment,” Nadler said. “Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of the people of New York. Governor Cuomo must resign.”
theGrio’s Keydra Manns contributed to this report.
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