A second staffer has accused New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment. Politico. Charlotte Bennett, a 25 year old staffer who started working with Cuomo last March, claimed that Cuomo made "inappropriate" comments to her. They included comments on her personal life and questions if she had ever been with an older man. Bennett claims that Cuomo wanted to sleep with her, but did not allege anything physical happened. Cuomo was also accused of sexual harassment by another staffer who claimed he kissed her without her consent. Cuomo denied making advances to Bennett.
My Comment:
The last time I wrote about this I mentioned that there was likely to be a flood of new accusation as Cuomo's name has been tarnished. Well I guess the floodgates have been opened as there is now a 2nd accusation of sexual harassment.
However, the 2nd claim is even weaker than the 1st. It's clear that there was no sexual assault in this case and only accusations of unprofessional conduct. In the first case there was at least a kiss without consent, which goes beyond simple harassment, but in this case there isn't even that. And it's another he said she said case without any witnesses to confirm or deny them.
And even if the accusations are true they are minor to the point of being a joke. It's possible that Cuomo was indeed trying to sleep with his staffer but his comments were ambiguous enough that he might not have been and may have just been making small talk. And it's not like we have seen any evidence that Cuomo actually made any comments in the first place. I don't think it would hold up in a court of law at this point.
And if the accusations are true is it scandal worthy? If Cuomo was a normal person hitting on a subordinate I think he would get taken to HR, perhaps even fired. I do agree that people shouldn't have to be put into the position that Cuomo supposedly put his staffers in. But as far as political scandals go this one is very minor.
I also think it's probably well past time that most politicians (and men in general) make use of the Mike Pence rule where you don't spend any time alone with women you are not in a relationship. Cuomo appears to be a sex pest but I also think these accusations are pretty weak. Had they been made against Mike Pence though they would be laughed at as Pence famously stuck to his rule.
Still, as I said before, these accusations aren't really about sexual harassment. People smelled blood in the water because of Andrew Cuomo's much more serious nursing home scandal. This is less about sexual harassment and more about ensuring that Cuomo's career is over. The left takes sexual harassment seriously to a pathological degree and the mere accusations of misconduct is enough to sink a leftist political candidate like Cuomo. It doesn't matter how weak those accusations are, all that matters is the fact that they have been made and the powers that be can safely wash their hands of Andrew Cuomo. This is just the Democrats signaling that it is now ok to hate Andrew Cuomo. The man's political career is done.
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