In his
first public appearance since Feb. 22, Gov. Andrew Cuomo addressed the sexual
harassment allegations from three women, including two former aides, during his
COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday.
“I'm
sorry for any pain that I caused anyone,” he said at his briefing. “I never
intended it and I will be better for this experience.”
Even
though Cuomo acknowledged that he made the women feel uncomfortable, he says he
wants New Yorkers to wait for the facts to come out in public before forming an
opinion. Cuomo said he will “fully cooperate” with an investigation into the
allegations being overseen by the state's independently elected attorney general,
who is also a Democrat.
He
also said he is not going to resign.
“I'm
going to do the job the people of the state elected me to do,” he said.
He
also said that he never touched anyone
inappropriately and did not know at the time that he was making anyone feel
uncomfortable.
"I
now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable. It
was unintentional, and I truly and deeply apologize for it. I feel awful about
it and frankly. I am embarrassed by it," Cuomo said.
One of
his accusers, Lindsey Boylan, took to Twitter to respond to the governor's apology.
Jesse
McKinley, of the New York Times, reported that Charlotte Bennett's attorney,
Debra Katz, said the governor's news conference "was full of
falsehoods and inaccurate information."