White House comments on allegations against Cuomo
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday commented on allegations of sexual harassment accusations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Video Transcript
- You know, obviously, this third allegation against Governor Cuomo has come out. This woman did work for President Biden during the campaign. I'm wondering what the president thinks about the calls for Governor Cuomo to resign and whether he's spoken directly either to his former staffer or the Governor about this situation?
JEN PSAKI: The president believes, as I've noted, that every woman who comes forward should--deserves to be heard and treated with respect. There is an investigation, an independent investigation, that's being overseen by the Attorney General and which has subpoena power. And we certainly support that moving forward.
In terms of any other conversations, I did not work on the campaign as you know. I know that she did work on the campaign. I believe she was an organizer in southwest Florida. I don't know if they had-- I'm not aware of a personal relationship that they had or that he knew her personally, but I don't have any other engagements. I'm sure she has a number of people she still remains in touch with from the campaign. But I don't have any calls or engagements to read out.
- And then, as you know, Governor Cuomo is also facing questions over the nursing home situation and COVID. He's currently chair of the NGA. He came up here to the White House in that capacity to discuss it with the president. His top aide, Melissa DeRosa, who's been pretty embroiled in this nursing home situation, was also advising the administration on COVID response during the transition. Does the president believe he should step aside from the NGA? And are you still, you know, seeking advice from his administration on COVID?
JEN PSAKI: Well, that's a decision for the NGA, not a decision for the president or the White House. But I would say that New York, as you know, continues to be one of the hardest-hit states by the COVID pandemic. It is one of the hardest-hit states by the resulting economic downturn. And, of course, we're going to continue to work with officials in that state to help the people of New York, help get the pandemic under control, and help get people back to work.
