Andrew M. Cuomo announced his resignation on 10 August 2021, which he set to take place in 14 days. To mark the occasion, we're featuring the coverage of the two news outlets whose coverage of the Cuomo scandals have done the most to bring the worst elements of Governor Cuomo's tenure in office that led to his resignation announcement to light: the Albany Times-Union and the New York Post. (The Times Union won the coin toss for determining which newspaper's coverage to feature first....)
- CUOMO RESIGNS: Distractions 'are the last thing government should be doing'
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The Times Union led their coverage with Cuomo's announcement:
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday said he will resign as governor, effective in 14 days, in the wake of an attorney general's report that concluded he was a serial sexual harasser.
Cuomo, defiantly dismissing the most serious allegations in the report as false, made the announcement in an online video that began with him characterizing the attorney general's report into sexual misconduct allegations against him as "unfairly motivated … untruthful." But in a pivot, Cuomo, as he hesitated briefly and appeared to grow emotional, then said that he is a fighter but must step aside rather than tie up New York government in an impeachment proceeding that would paralyze the state for months.
Cuomo said that while he will continue to dispute the attorney general's findings, fighting an impeachment proceeding "will cost taxpayers millions of dollars; it will brutalize people. ... Government really needs to function today. Government needs to reform. It is a matter of life and death. Government operations and wasting money on distractions is the last thing that government should be doing. I cannot be the cause of that."
"Thank you for the honor of serving you. It has been the honor of my lifetime," Cuomo added, after apologizing to his family, and noting that he had learned lessons from the experience.
- Andrew Cuomo resigns as governor of New York
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The New York Post summarized the historical context for Andrew M. Cuomo's resignation in disgrace:
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation on Tuesday, marking his stunning fall from grace in a full-throated defense of his behavior with women before claiming he’s stepping down for the good of New Yorkers after the scathing state Attorney General report detailed his sexual harassment of multiple women.
“I think that given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside,” Cuomo said from his Manhattan office.
Cuomo’s resignation marks a an ignominious end to the Democrat’s three-term run as governor, the same number of terms to which his late father — Gov. Mario Cuomo, whom the younger Cuomo idolized — was elected. By resigning before his term ends, Andrew Cuomo will not match the three full terms that his father served.
To close out this timeline entry, here is video coverage of Andrew M. Cuomo's announcement.
