Outgoing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he had been the victim of a “political firecracker” while preparing to step down on Monday after resigning on allegations of sexual harassment.
In a prerecorded farewell speech, the until recently powerful Democrat insisted that the investigation that showed he sexually harassed multiple women, including female employees, had been designed to force him to resign.
“There was a political and media stampede. But the truth will come out in time. I’m sure of that,” said Cuomo, who hands over the reins of the fourth most populous state in the United States to Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul.
Cuomo – son of Mario Cuomo, who was governor for three terms – led New York for a decade, after winning the election for the first time in 2010.
He rose to international fame last year when he was widely praised for his daily television briefings on the pandemic.
This was happening as then-Republican President Donald Trump sowed confusion with incoherent messages about the coronavirus, prompting some Democrats to call for a presidential nomination from Cuomo.
But his popularity fell late last year when he was embroiled in accusations that he was covering up the true number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
And this year, several women denounced that the 63-year-old politician had behaved inappropriately with them.
The allegations culminated in an explosive report by state attorney general Letitia James released earlier this month claiming that he had sexually harassed 11 women, including unwanted touching.
Cuomo denied the allegations and initially rejected calls for him to resign, including those from President Joe Biden.
– Message to De Blasio –
However, as an investigation by state lawmakers gathered steam, Cuomo announced on August 10 that he was resigning and that he would step down two weeks later.
During his farewell speech, he assured that a “hasty trial” had caused a “media frenzy” that was not “correct, fair or sustainable.”
He also highlighted some of his accomplishments, such as the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York in 2011 and raising the state’s minimum wage to $ 15 in December 2019.
“No governor in the nation has approved more progressive measures than I have,” he stressed.
Cuomo also thanked voters for “the honor of serving them.”
“I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that every day I worked as hard as I could. I gave it my all and tried to give my best to you,” he said.
Cuomo also could not avoid sending a last message to the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, with whom he had several run-ins.
And he said De Blasio’s likely successor in the November election, Eric Adams, will bring a “new philosophy and competition to the job” that will give Big Apple residents “hope for the future.”
Hochul, also a Democrat, will become New York’s first female governor when she is sworn in in Albany, the state capital, in the opening minutes of Tuesday.
Cuomo said that she “will rise to the challenge” while wishing him success.
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