A Fox News panel criticized Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo during Friday’s broadcast of “Outnumbered” for his response to sexual harassment allegations.
Cuomo during his Thursday press conference claimed that he had not done anything wrong and asserted that it was not his fault if he had inadvertently made anyone “uncomfortable.” Host Emily Compagno argued that he was “digging his grave wider and deeper.” (RELATED: Cuomo: ‘Harassment Is Not Making Someone Feel Uncomfortable’)
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“You can leave this press conference today and say, ‘oh, the governor harassed me.’ You can say that,” Cuomo told a reporter at his press conference. “I would say I never said anything that I believed was inappropriate. I never meant to make you feel that way. You may hear it that way, may interpret it that way and I respect that. And I apologize to you if I said something that you think is offensive. Harassment is not making someone feel uncomfortable. That is not harassment.”
“Oh, Raymond. This guy keep digging his grave wider and deeper,” Compagno said, turning the question to guest co-host Raymond Arroyo.
“You almost wish there was a quarantine in New York to protect the ladies in New York state from this guy. He’s like the Bill Clinton of New York at this point,” Arroyo replied. “Every moment he confirms the charge with the things coming out of his mouth. This is a little — he says this is not harassment. That’s you feeling uncomfortable. This is like you saying this isn’t physical abuse. Those are just bruises.”
Arroyo noted that Cuomo himself had signed a very stringent sexual harassment law and wondered whether he was simply trying to avoid being subject to its application.
“I think he’s trying to dance out of his own liability in general,” Compagno, a lawyer, replied. She noted that those laws might not have been in effect at the time the alleged harassment took place, but said that didn’t matter.
“New York state still has among the most strict harassment laws in the country. The first sentence on the AG’s website says unwelcome advances or comments, even a joke is harassment,” Compagno continued, adding that there was no qualification for whether or not those comments made anyone feel uncomfortable.
“It’s crystal clear that all of this falls into that category,” Compagno concluded. “It’s ‘jaw-dropping,’ to quote my original introduction to this segment, that he’s still defending it in this ridiculous way as he’s undergoing over five investigations into his behavior in multiple arenas.”
Cuomo is also facing an investigation into his handling of COVID-19 and reports that his administration hid the real numbers of nursing home deaths while he worked to secure an advance for his book on leadership during a pandemic.