An audio of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo threatening an opponent with 'child rapist' remark has been leaked. The allegations were made in February but Cuomo's office had denied them. Now, The New York times has released the audio of conversation between Cuomo and his opponent in its podcast.
In the audio, Cuomo is heard speaking to the Working Families Party head Bill Lipton who had backed Sex and The City star Cynthia Nixon instead of Cuomo in the elections. Cynthia Nixon had lost to Cuomo in the primary challenge in 2018. Cuomo was angry about Lipton's hesitation to endorse him in the general election.
Cuomo Abusive Remark
In the audio, Cuomo is heard telling Lipton: "If you ever say, 'Well he's better than a Republican' again, then I'm going to say, you're better than a child rapist. How about that?"
"Governor, I apologize, but I gotta clarify one thing. You're free to say whatever you want, governor, but I just want to be clear. Our line is going to be that we have differences with you, but our differences with Republicans are far greater," Lipton replied.
"I think you're better than a child rapist, I just want you to know," repeated Cuomo in the phone conversation. Currently Cuomo is facing allegations of bullying and sexual harassment. He is also claimed to have mishandled nursing homes and covered up the death toll caused by coronavirus pandemic.
On the other hand, more victims are coming forward and speaking up against Cuomo's bullying. Alyssa McGrath, 33, became the eighth woman to allege sexual misconduct by Cuomo. She is the first woman who is currently working in Cuomo's office to level charges against Cuomo.
Sexual Harassment Allegations
McGrath stated, when they were working in his office, Cuomo had looked down her shirt to compliment her on her necklace and told her that she was beautiful in Italian and kissed her on the forehead during an office Christmas party in 2019. She also said that he had ogled at her body and called her along with one of her co-workers 'mingle mamas'.
However, Cuomo has refuted these claims but said that it was a custom for him to kiss and hug people when greeting them. He said that he was sorry if it had made people uncomfortable. The New York Times stated that she had shared contemporaneous text messages, emails and social media posts to support her claims.
McGrath had said that Cuomo indulged in flirtatious banter mixed with personal remarks. She also said that he also tried to cultivate rivalry among women workers in office.
Last week, New York state Attorney General Letitia James stated that a team of outside lawyers was probing into accusations of Cuomo harassing women through unwelcome, sexualized comments and inappropriate physical contact that included unsolicited kissing.
Last week, another woman who is currently working in Cuomo's office also accused him of groping her breast in the Executive Mansion last year. The identity of the worker has been kept confidential and the report was published in The Times Union newspaper of Albany.
