New York Governor Andrew Cuomo listens to speakers at a vaccination site on March 8, 2021, in New York.
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A majority of congressional Democrats from New York, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, on Friday issued near-simultaneous calls for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign.
“The repeated accusations against the Governor, and the manner in which he has responded to them, have made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point,” Nadler said in a statement on Twitter.
“Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of the people of New York. Governor Cuomo must resign,” Nadler said.
The embattled Democratic governor has faced calls for his resignation from state-level politicians within his own party over a growing list of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct allegations against him.
Cuomo has repeatedly vowed not to resign, and has urged people to suspend judgment on the numerous allegations against him until the conclusion of an investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
But Democrats and Republicans in the Empire State have only ramped up the pressure on Cuomo, most recently by taking steps toward an impeachment probe.
Cuomo has suggested that the attacks are motivated by politics. Several New York Democrats are currently considering launching bids for Cuomo’s job as his political future appears increasingly in doubt.
But a deluge of congressional Democrats on Friday morning joined the growing chorus against Cuomo, who is under fire not only for the harassment allegations but also for his administration’s handling of Covid in nursing homes.
“As members of the New York delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, we believe these women, we believe the reporting, we believe the Attorney General, and we believe the fifty-five members of the New York State legislature, including the State Senate Majority Leader, who have concluded that Governor Cuomo can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges,” Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman said in a joint statement.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) (L) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
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Notably, New York’s two Democratic senators have so far been unwilling to call on Cuomo to resign.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the latest claim against Cuomo “nauseating,” but stopped short of demanding that the governor step down.
Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the development from House Democrats. The White House also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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