Andrew Cuomo Downplays Sex Scandal That Drove Him From Office on The View: ‘If I Offended Anyone…’

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared on ABC’s The View Monday for a marathon interview about his independent mayoral campaign against democratic socialist and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. After losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, Cuomo decided to run for mayor as an independent.

After a very complimentary A-block, during which the co-hosts recounted Cuomo’s accomplishments as governor, Sara Haines finally addressed the elephant in the room that led to his resignation.

“Governor, you resigned from the governor’s office in 2021 amid a rash of sexual harassment allegations and you left office apologizing to those women while always denying the most serious accusations, but you have taken a more combative stance lately,” Haines began.

“You say you regret having resigned, that you are a victim of cancel culture, that the allegations from 13 different women were ‘politically motivated,’ and threatened to sue one of your accusers for defamation. Now, you were not criminally charged but investigators in the DOJ have found the claims credible. So what do you say to voters who have a hard time looking past this?” asked Haines.

Cuomo seemed to welcome the chance to explain.

“When the report was issued I said I believed it was politically motivated and it was,” he began. “I didn’t even know the allegations at that time, right? It was done in a report — I didn’t even know who the individuals were.”

Cuomo continued:

We then spent five years — that report went to five district attorneys all over the state. No one found anything. It was then civilly litigated in court, the individual actions, for five years. That came to nothing. I was dropped from the cases. So, nothing came from those allegations.

It was a very painful period for me and for my family. I have three young daughters, 30, 30, 28 — not that young anymore — but it was a very painful experience for my family and I did say if I offended anyone in any way, I didn’t mean it. And I learned a lesson. A painful lesson, which is to be much more cautious about everything you say, any joke, any comment.

I won’t kiss a person on the cheek unless they initiate a kiss. So it taught me a lesson just to be super cautious because there is a sensitivity that has evolved that is real. If people feel it, it’s true, and it has to be respected.

Current Mayor Eric Adams (D) — himself plagued by scandal — dropped out of the race last week, leaving Mamdani, Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa (R) vying for the post. According to YouGov, Mamdani has a significant lead, with support from 24% of likely voters. Sliwa has 13% and Cuomo has 11%.

Watch the clip above via ABC’s The View.