Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) apologized to the state of New York and the women he made feel uncomfortable on Wednesday but hedged, saying he has kissed hundreds of “women, men, [and] children… even legislators.”
Cuomo’s defense against claims of sexual harassment made against him:
“You can go find hundreds of pictures of me kissing people” pic.twitter.com/xufc5ZIgm4
— Caleb Hull (I’m With the CCP Don’t Ban Me) (@CalebJHull) March 3, 2021
He excused his actions by explaining, “It was my father’s way of greeting people,” pointing out that “it is a cultural thing.”
Cuomo saying “listen I am always randomly kissing and hugging strangers everywhere I go, and I learned that from my father” is not exactly a bulletproof defense
— Jack Mirkinson (@jackmirkinson) March 3, 2021
Conservative commentators reacted, too:
what? grabbing and kisssssssing strange women is a cultural thing?
— Michael Savage (@ASavageNation) March 3, 2021
Cuomo: Kissing people is just my way of greeting them pic.twitter.com/ZEFUYBGFXn
— Evan Siegfried (@evansiegfried) March 3, 2021
It seems like there are a number of clips from this Cuomo presser that could have legs, particularly the one on kissing men and women as his “customary way of greeting.”
— Jake Lahut (@JakeLahut) March 3, 2021
Andrew Cuomo fought off questions from reporters, refusing to resign his position amid a growing controversy over sexual harassment claims made by three women, not to mention a nursing home scandal in which New York Attorney General Letitia James found Cuomo’s administration had “undercounted” the number of coronavirus-related deaths in nursing homes by as much as 50 percent.
I’ve said from the beginning Cuomo’s contrived “sex scandal” is a distraction from the actual scandal. He far more likely survives a debate over the propriety of watching a reporter eat a hot dog than he does an inquiry into his lethal COVID policies and subsequent coverup.
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) March 3, 2021