Disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday, March 1 that he will be running for New York City Mayor. After a controversial end to his tenure as governor, this decision did not come without backlash.
Cuomo narrowly avoided impeachment from the governor’s office in August of 2021 when he resigned following a report concluding that he had sexually harassed at least 11 women. His misconduct included inappropriate and suggestive comments and actions towards his female colleagues.
The district attorney of New York did not prosecute the former governor on the grounds of insufficient proof, but the allegations were enough for him to be forced to resign from the position. Now, he’s back in the saddle as Democratic candidate for New York City Mayor.
Immediately following the onset of the allegations, Cuomo admitted to making his female coworkers feel “uncomfortable” but did not admit to the more serious sexual assault allegations against him. At the time, he also claimed that cancel culture took a big part in why he had to resign.
Cuomo now states that he has had time to learn from the “painful” mistakes he has made, and he has become a better person from that — which he hopes to prove to the public as mayor of New York City.
Do I think it’s entirely impossible that Cuomo truly has done some deep soul searching in the past four years and made some real changes? No, not necessarily. But I also think that in today’s political climate, trust is hard-bought, and Cuomo’s position is a difficult one to come back from.
The accusations of cancel culture’s involvement also don’t sit right with me. He wasn’t “canceled” for something benign, he sexually assaulted a dozen or more women. He deserved to be ousted from his public position.
Just as easily as Cuomo can claim he’s healed, the voting public can choose not to believe him. Sometimes, you have to know when it’s your time to give up, and I think this is one of them.
mkane10@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @andrewcuomo, X
