New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) on Sunday said Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is “literally in the way of us saving lives right now” as he deals with growing calls to resign in light of multiple sexual misconduct allegations.
While appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” de Blasio was asked by host Margaret Brennan if he thought Cuomo would in fact resign.
“I think he’ll try to hold out Margaret. I think he is used to getting things his way and it’s been almost an imperial governorship. But I gotta tell you, the folks in this state and political leadership don’t believe in him anymore. He doesn’t have any credibility,” de Blasio said.
“So I think an impeachment proceeding will begin. And I think he will be impeached and perhaps right before that he’ll decide to resign. That’s probably the most likely outcome right now, but I gotta tell you something. He should resign right now because he’s holding up our effort to fight COVID. He’s literally in the way of us saving lives right now,” de Blasio said.
Brennan also asked de Blasio if he thought the Cuomo administration purposefully covered up nursing home deaths during the height of the pandemic.
“I don’t have a doubt in my mind, but everything was about his public image, everything was about his political future. It was not about what people needed,” de Blasio said. “And by the way, it was about campaign contributions. The nursing home industry, the big hospital systems, they gave him millions and millions of dollars, and he went easy on them and he tried to cover up for everyone, not just him but his donors.”
When pressed by Brennan on whether or not he would run for New York governor, de Blasio declined to answer saying he was currently focused on fighting COVID-19.
De Blasio said last week that Cuomo “can no longer serve as governor” after another former aide came forward with allegations of sexual assault.
“The specific allegation that the governor called an employee of his, someone who he had power over, called them to a private place and then sexually assaulted her is absolutely unacceptable. It is disgusting to me and he can no longer serve as governor. It’s as simple as that,” de Blasio said during a press briefing.