Former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday that he wishes he had not resigned the governorship in 2021.
Cuomo, who is currently running in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, told the NYT that if he “had to do it again,” he would not have resigned as governor. The Democrat added that “at the time” he believed he would have been a “distraction to government functionality” if he had decided to stay in office.
“If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t have resigned,” Cuomo told the NYT. “At the time, I thought that I would be a distraction to government functionality, that they would all be involved in impeachment proceedings, blah, blah, blah. Looking back, what has really been done in the last four years, anyway, right?”
Cuomo, who served as governor of New York from 2011 to 2021, resigned in disgrace in August 2021 after he was accused of sexually harassing multiple women. Cuomo has denied the sexual harassment allegations and claimed that they were politically motivated.
“Maybe I could have accelerated this whole process and it wouldn’t have taken four years,” Cuomo told the outlet. “It could have been done in six months. If judges actually had people come in and they gave sworn testimony. But in retrospect, I wouldn’t have resigned.”
“At the time, I thought it would have been too much of a distraction and hurt the great functioning of government, which was going to go build great things and do great things,” the New York politician added.
Cuomo also faced massive backlash after his administration’s Department of Health in March 2020 banned nursing homes from denying entry to patients “solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.” Following his administration’s rule, at least 4,000 New York nursing home residents died, the Daily Caller News Foundation first reported in Jan. 2021.
Despite his past controversies, several recent surveys have shown Cuomo with a strong lead in the 2025 New York City mayoral race.
A spokesperson for Cuomo’s campaign did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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