NEW YORK (AP) – Just six months after he resigned from office in disgrace over sexual harassment allegations, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo appeared to be hinting at a political comeback in remarks at a Brooklyn church on Sunday.
The Democrat made a campaign-like stop at a Brooklyn church on Sunday, delivering a speech in which he condemned “cancel culture”. The public appearance, his first since leaving office, came a week after Cuomo’s campaign launched a digital and television advertising campaign pushing a similar message: He was driven from office unfairly.
Cuomo went on the offensive to attack the “political sharks” in Albany who, he said,
“The actions against me were prosecutorial misconduct,” Cuomo said, repeating a theme he has pushed from the outset. “They used cancel culture to effectively overturn an election.”
Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James, who released the report last summer that concluded Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, hit back at the former governor on Sunday via a statement from her reelection campaign.
“Serial sexual harasser Andrew Cuomo won’t even spare a house of worship from his lies,” James’ campaign said. “Even though multiple independent investigations found his victims to be credible, Cuomo continues to blame everyone but himself.”
Cuomo resigned last August, days after an independent probe found he sexually harassed a dozen women and that he and aides worked to retaliate against an accuser. Cuomo acknowledged his behaviour wasn’t appropriate but quickly added that nothing he did violated the law.