Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of sexual harassment, called him an “abusive man” and compared him to “Darth Vader” in an interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising.”
Boylan told hosts Ryan Grim and Emily Jashinsky that many Democrats are “afraid” of Cuomo going back to before he ran for office.
“He has a lot of people afraid of him and I think he’s used that to his advantage from his earliest days running his father’s campaign. There’s a reason why he’s called — he’s kind of like Darth Vader, he scares everyone,” she said.
Boylan, a Democrat who is running for Manhattan Borough President, asserted that Cuomo tried to “smear” her by telling others she was a “difficult personality.”
“He directly tried to smear me and besmirch my name in terms of my ability to work with people, saying I was a difficult personality,” she said.
She pointed to reports that other Cuomo aides leaked her personnel file after she came forward with claims of harassment, saying it was leaked “to destroy me.” She said two staffers later left her campaign as a result.
Leaked files accused Boylan of bullying female colleagues, some of whom were minorities, according to a New Yorker report in March.
Boylan offered details on her past allegations of sexual harassment in a Medium post in February alleging that the government kissed her without her consent and made inappropriate remarks during her time in the office.
Cuomo has denied allegations of inappropriate behavior.
Boylan told “Rising” that Cuomo uses woman as “tools to advance his own power and interests,” calling his behavior “pervasive” and “destructive.”
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