Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Sex Allegations

Andrew Mark Cuomo is a politician, lawyer, author, and currently the 56th Governor of New York since the year 2011. He’s a member of the Democratic Party and was elected the same position his father, Mario Cuomo upheld for three consecutive terms. Recently, Governor Cuomo is facing backlash and is currently going through one of the most chaotic events of his political career. Many women have come out and have accused Cuomo of sexual assault/harassment.

Lindsey Boylan, politician and former aide to Governor Cuomo, was the first to come out publicly and accuse Cuomo. According to Boylan, the sexual harassment dated back to 2016. Lindsey Boylan's boss informed her, that Cuomo had a “crush” on her.

Moving forward into the year 2017, she had said that Governor Cuomo suggested that they played a game of strip poker. Although this being said, Governor Cuomo denied these accusations. In 2018, Ms. Boylan wrote, “ As I got up to leave and walk toward an open door, he stepped in front of me and kissed me on the lips”. Lindsey Boylan tweeted in response to the harassment she faced and said, “Like a true abuser, @NYGovCuomo continues to work behind the scenes to undermine the truth and to harm his many victims...And what is abundantly clear to me is the governor should resign.” Lindsey has then said “ Not one more life destroyed”, as she refers to what Andrew Cuomo has done to her.  As of March 2021, Lindsey continues to speak about what happened and still believes that Governor Cuomo should resign. 

Not long after Lindsey Boylan’s accusation, another former aide to Cuomo has come forward and accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. Charlotte Bennett replied to one of Lindsey’s tweets explaining what happened, saying, For those wondering what it’s like to work for the Cuomo admin read Lindsey Boylan’s story. ” In 2020, Charlotte Bennett claimed that Governor Andrew Cuomo asked her a very inappropriate question. In an interview with the New York Times, she said “I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared.” 

Regarding what Miss Bennett said, Andrew Cuomo said I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.” As Andrew Cuomo denied these allegations, another woman, Anna Ruch, came forward and said had also received an unwanted advance from Cuomo. The two had attended the same wedding and we're talking, and a says that Cuomo placed his hand on her lower back. When she removed his hands, he asked if he could kiss her. Anna was completely caught off guard and was undoubtedly uncomfortable by that statement he made. When this went public,  Andrew Cuomo did not directly answer Anna's accusations, but a spokesperson did.  The spokesperson said that this was just “a misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation.”

Lindsey Boylan, Charlotte Bennett, and Anna Ruch are not the only ones who have been affected by Cuomo. Many more women have emerged from hiding since. Another former aide to Cuomo, Ana Liss, said that she was uncomfortable by Cuomo's actions when he kissed her hand. Andrew Cuomo had continued to ask Ana questions about her romantic life.

Since these accusations came out,  Andrew Cuomo has addressed publicly his side of the story. He says, “I know understand, I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable, it was unintentional, and I truly and deeply apologize for it.”Cuomo claims he is embarrassed by his actions. Cuomo also claims that “I never touched anyone inappropriately. I never knew at the time that I was making anyone feel uncomfortable I never knew at the time I was making anyone feel uncomfortable.” Lindsey Boylan still pushing for Andrew Cuomo's resignation. But Cuomo has made it very clear that he will not be resigning. He believes that anyone who is pushing for him to resign is prompted to do so by political differences. 

Overall, Andrew Cuomo is facing a lot of backlash during this time. His political career is on the line as these accusations continue to fall in. One of his accusers, Lindsey Boylan, is pushing for his resignation. She says that being touched inappropriately is nothing that no one should ever go through and that if needed, the state should remove him from his position by force.