Biden Calls on NY Gov. to Resign over Harassment Report

On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden called on Andrew Cuomo to resign as an inquiry found the New York governor had harassed multiple women.

Biden's condemnation of the governor came hours after the state's Attorney General Letitia James asserted that Cuomo had violated state and federal laws. In response, Cuomo denied touching anyone inappropriately and vowed to stay in office.

"I think he should resign," Biden told reporters at the White House. "I understand that the state legislature may decide to impeach him. I don't know that for a fact. I have not read all that data."

The attorney general's investigation was commissioned last year after several women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against the governor.

In his statement, Cuomo said: "I want you to know directly from me that I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances."

"I am 63 years old. I have lived my entire adult life in public view. That is just not who I am. And that's not who I have ever been," he went on saying.

On their parts, New York's senators, the Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand used the release of the investigation urging him to resign.

"Today's report from the New York State attorney general substantiated and corroborated the allegations of the brave women who came forward to share their stories - and we commend the women for doing so," they said.

The investigation is civil, rather than criminal, so will not directly lead to charges. Nevertheless, the police could use the report in deciding to take further action and play a key part in a separate impeachment investigation he faces.

On the other hand, Biden touched upon the pandemic situation in the state, affirming that the U.S. is experiencing a surge in infections and hospitalizations driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.

"We have a pandemic of the unvaccinated," he said, stressing the vaccines' effectiveness in preventing hospitalizations and death due to COVID-19. "This is a tragedy. People are dying and will die who don't have to die.