‘If I Just Made You Feel Uncomfortable, That is Not Harassment’: Cuomo Defends Himself Against Allegations

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D)  attempted to defend himself on Thursday against allegations that he had engaged in sexual harassment, saying it wasn’t “harassment” if he made anyone feel “uncomfortable.”

“I never meant to make anyone feel uncomfortable,” Cuomo said in response to a reporter’s question on the issue, before posing a hypothetical situation. “I never said anything that I believe is inappropriate. You can leave this press conference today and say, ‘Oh, the governor harassed me.’ I would say I never said anything that I believed was inappropriate. I never meant to make you feel that way. You may hear it that way, you may interpret it that way. And I respect that, and I apologize to you if I said something that you think is offensive.”

The reporter protested Cuomo’s scenario and asked whether he believed his assessment was legally correct, saying, “The harasser’s intention doesn’t matter. You can apologize if you make someone feel uncomfortable. I’m just wondering — do you acknowledge that, according to the law, it doesn’t matter?”

“Harassment is not making someone feel uncomfortable,” Cuomo replied. “That is not harassment. If I just made you feel uncomfortable, that is not harassment. That’s you feeling uncomfortable.”

The beleaguered governor has been facing allegations of sexual harassment from around a dozen women since Lindsey Boylan, a former aide, came forward with the first allegation last year. Both of New York’s U.S. senators, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and more than 120 New York legislators have called on him to resign.

Watch above via Spectrum News.

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