Update (2005ET): A third woman, former Obama administration and Biden 2020 campaign member Anna Ruch, has come forward to accuse New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of sexual harassment at a Sept. 2019 wedding reception, according to the New York Times.
The governor was working the room after toasting the newlyweds, and when he came upon Ms. Ruch, now 33, she thanked him for his kind words about her friends. But what happened next instantly unsettled her: Mr. Cuomo put his hand on Ms. Ruch’s bare lower back, she said in an interview on Monday.
When she removed his hand with her own, Ms. Ruch recalled, the governor remarked that she seemed “aggressive” and placed his hands on her cheeks. He asked if he could kiss her, loudly enough for a friend standing nearby to hear. Ms. Ruch was bewildered by the entreaty, she said, and pulled away as the governor drew closer.
“I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed,” said Ms. Ruch, whose recollection was corroborated by the friend, contemporaneous text messages and photographs from the event. “I turned my head away and didn’t have words in that moment.”
And there's a picture...
Manhttps://t.co/ix3kHnDiMa pic.twitter.com/lFwCF1eQzm
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) March 2, 2021
Ruch said Cuomo's touch on her bare skin was uncomfortable, and "I promptly removed his hand with my hand, which I would have thought was a clear enough indicator that I was not wanting him to touch me."
Cuomo instead called her "aggressive" and placed his hands on her cheeks.
"He said, ‘Can I kiss you?" claims Ruch. "I felt so uncomfortable and embarrassed when really he is the one who should have been embarrassed."
Shaken, Ms. Ruch said, she later had to ask a friend if Mr. Cuomo’s lips had made contact with her face as she pulled away. The governor had kissed her cheek, she was told.
“It’s the act of impunity that strikes me,” Ms. Ruch said. “I didn’t have a choice in that matter. I didn’t have a choice in his physical dominance over me at that moment. And that’s what infuriates me. And even with what I could do, removing his hand from my lower back, even doing that was not clear enough.” -NYT
Several days after the example, Ruch discussed the incident with a friend - texting the friend "I'm so pissed," referring to Cuomo as "this guy," with an un-reported epithet.
As the Times notes, "Ms. Ruch’s example is distinct from those of the former aides: A former member of the Obama administration and the 2020 Biden campaign, Ms. Ruch has never been employed by the governor or the state. But her experience reinforces the escalating concerns and accusations about Mr. Cuomo’s personal conduct — a pattern of words and actions that have, at minimum, made three women who are decades his junior feel deeply uncomfortable, in their collective telling."
Has anyone heard from Women's March of late?
And will this young hotdog swallowing reporter come forward with her #MeToo moment before this is over?
Creep https://t.co/cwTF8DEjIF
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) March 1, 2021
Same energy. pic.twitter.com/AduXtUdK5u
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 2, 2021
Cuomo’s numbers falling off a cliff pic.twitter.com/I2OiyUl3Vs
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) March 2, 2021
Update (1755ET): New York Democrats are calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to resign following two sexual misconduct allegations which followed a bombshell COVID-19 nursing home scandal, according to The Hill. A growing number of legislators and journalists, meanwhile, have come forward to accuse Cuomo of various bullying tactics.
"There’s an ongoing pattern here of abuse of power. It’s making the working relationship with the governor a real distraction from the work we have to do for the people," said state Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara (D). "I firmly believe that the governor’s resignation is for the good of the state at this point."
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