MSNBC contributor and former Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill gave a scathing rebuke Wednesday of Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s apology for sexual comments toward former female staffers, which he has described as “misinterpreted.”
McCaskill appeared on “Morning Joe” and discussed with host Joe Scarborough Cuomo’s apology for the alleged actions towards the women who’ve accused him of sexual harassment, as well as similar accusations leveled against former President Donald Trump and former Democratic Minnesota Sen. Al Franken. (RELATED: Fox & Friends Hammers Chris Cuomo’s Choice Not To Cover Brother’s Sexual Harassment Allegations)
Scarborough began by noting an “interesting” op-ed by Michelle Goldberg in The New York Times claiming that Cuomo will “survive” the allegations of sexual harassment that he’s currently facing because “Democrats are still angry” about Franken, who left office after his own allegations of sexual misconduct in 2018.
Before turning to McCaskill for her thoughts, Scarborough noted there were “21 claims of sexual harassment” against Trump while he was in the White House and “Republicans never once demanded investigations” into him.
“The prosecutor in me wants to point out that the facts and circumstances around both cases are much different,” McCaskill began. “This is the Governor of New York who had a young — a woman young enough to be his daughter in his office. The two of them alone. And he asked her if she had sex with older men. And then he had the nerve to say he was apologizing if his comments had been misinterpreted as flirtation.”
“Well, I got news for you. If you have a position of power over a young woman, a very young woman compared to your age, and you ask her if she has sex with older men, you ought to be man enough to say, you did something terribly wrong. Not ‘I’m sorry if it was misinterpreted,'” she continued.
McCaskill went on to say that
Cuomo should have taken responsibility for his actions, said he would do better, and asked forgiveness from the women.
“But instead, if it’s been misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation,” McCaskill continued in a mocking voice. “I mean, I’m like, it’s infuriating. That wasn’t an apology. That was a rationalization. So, you know, just everybody out there if you are old enough to be a woman’s daughter and you’re her boss, don’t ask her if she likes to have sex with older women. It’s not complicated.”
“Oh men, I mean,” she corrected herself.
Cuomo has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple former female staffers. He has denied the allegations but issued an
apology on Sunday acknowledging that “levity and banter” may have been seen as “unwanted flirtation.”
