Sexual Assault Allegations against Governor Andrew Cuomo

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By Allison Chabala

In recent months, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has faced several sexual harassment allegations, notably from employees from his office, including Alyssa McGrath. She is one of five current and former aides of Cuomo to accuse him of sexual harassment. Although disturbing, accusations of sexual misconduct among people in the government and people who wield immense influence in general is far from unprecedented.

McGrath elaborated her experiences with Gov. Cuomo, and shared reports of his behavior, which included remarks about her looks, as well as suggestive comments and nicknames. Contributions from other employees regarding their experiences suggest that this behavior is ubiquitous in the workplace.

According to a Siena College Research Institute survey of 801 New York voters that was cited in an article by The Wall Street Journal, 51% of participants said that Cuomo shouldn’t resign, while 35% responded with an opinion to the contrary. However, 57% of respondents said that they would not vote for him in the next election. Another reason that this latter statistic was not in Cuomo’s favor may be because he has already been the governor of New York since 2011, and although there is no limit in the State of New York as to how many terms a governor may serve, the citizens of New York may desire a new voice.

Additionally, another poll from Data for Progress of 484 New York voters showed that 58% of respondents expressed that Cuomo should resign. These two polls indicate the immense contentious nature of this topic.

Do Governor Cuomo’s actions justify the calls for his resignation?

According to The Nation, which calls for his resignation, over 120 lawmakers in the State of New York have called for his resignation. The Nation argues that Cuomo has abused his power multiple times, lost the trust of the citizens and the government, and states that his actions of incompetence have preceded the numerous claims of sexual harassment against him. 

In January, New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James, claimed that Cuomo had intentionally falsely reported the number of deaths due to COVID-19. In March of 2020, Cuomo enforced a policy that “ordered nursing homes to take back residents who had been discharged from hospitals after being treated for Covid-19,” according to The New York Times. The intention was to prevent hospitals from being overcrowded. However, at the time, the coronavirus death toll for nursing home patients in New York only included patients who died inside of the nursing home establishments. This led to an undercounting of coronavirus deaths of nursing home patients. A report that was later published by the Health Department stated that the undercounting was by about 50%.

Cuomo soon corrected the number, and attempted to justify his actions by saying that he was trying to avoid scrutiny of the Trump Administration. This is yet another example of the politicization of the coronavirus by political officials