Former aide: Cuomo suggested 'strip poker,' 'kissed me on the lips'
FOX News correspondent Bryan Llenas joins 'The Story' with the latest on bombshell allegations
New York papers have ramped up pressure on embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo with scathing headlines calling the Democratic leader a "pig" and pointing out that his "woes" are piling up after former administration aide Lindsey Boylan accused him of sexual harassment amid the ongoing nursing home scandal.
Boylan came forward on Wednesday with explosive claims against the already-beleaguered governor, saying he asked her to play "strip poker," made a lewd reference to Bill Clinton’s infamous use of cigars, touched her lower back, kissed her on the lips and essentially made her uncomfortable in her workplace.
While CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC and CBS have taken heat for oddly skipping news, The New York Post and New York Daily News both went all in with blistering front-page stories.
The reliably liberal Daily News’ cover featured an all-caps headline, "WOES PILE UP," along with bullet points that detail the alleged sexual harassment and the latest news on the nursing home tragedy.
The Post’s cover featured Boylan with an all-caps headline, "CUOMO’S A PIG," mentioning the alleged kiss and strip poker claim in a subhead. The Post also published an opinion piece by Miranda Devine headlined, "Finally, the bully Gov. Cuomo has been exposed."
"Tough contest, but Mayor Putz, Bill de Blasio, is more popular in New York these days than the Granny Killer, Gov. Cuomo," Devine wrote, referring to Cuomo’s controversial decision to force nursing homes to accept COVID-infected patients at the beginning of the pandemic. The governor eventually reversed the decision that resulted in thousands of deaths.
GOV. CUOMO ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT BY FORMER AIDE
Gov. Cuomo's administration is now reportedly under investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn after critics accused officials of covering up the true number of COVID nursing home deaths in the state.
New Yorkers know that being labeled less popular than de Blasio is one of the biggest insults imaginable for a local politician, but Devine wasn’t looking to go easy on the governor.
"Already under fire over the nursing-home scandal, Cuomo can add ‘sexual predator’ to the long list of allegations that has both Democrats and Republicans demanding that he resign or be impeached," Devine wrote. "Boy, the worm has turned on the ‘Luv Guv,’ and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. The outrage is that his bullying, catastrophic ineptitude has been obvious to his Democratic colleagues from the start."
The Post columnist then evoked an anti-Cuomo rally that was held in New York on Wednesday, noting that State Assemblyman Ron Kim has accused the governor of threatening to "destroy" him.
"So why did they cover Cuomo him for so long? Because he was the designated foil for Donald Trump," Devine wrote. "Women swooned over his macho-man daily briefings last spring where he oozed fake empathy and shared spaghetti-sauce recipes, while secretly signing a death warrant for at least 10,000 seniors."
Devine wrote that Cuomo botched the coronavirus pandemic and is now facing sexual harassment allegation to boot.
"It just takes just one person of courage for the floodgates to open, because bullies never have one victim. They abuse everyone around them to overcome their feelings of inadequacy," she wrote.
The Daily News also published an opinion piece, as former Cuomo staffer Karen Hinton wrote that the governor engages in "penis politics" because he created a public image as champions of women’s rights and equality but is a different man behind closed doors.
"In Cuomo’s world — and he would never admit this even to himself — working for him is like a 1950′s version of marriage. He always, always, always comes first. Everyone and everything else — your actual spouse, your children, your own career goals — is secondary. Your focus 24 hours a day is on him," Hinton wrote, noting that he uses "gender domination" to assert power over women.
While liberal TV outlets such as CNN have skipped the story, it seems Empire State newspapers are all in on the latest Cuomo scandal.
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A statement from Cuomo’s office on Wednesday denied the claims.
"As we said before, Ms. Boylan's claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false," press secretary Caitlin Girouard said.
In 2018, with uncorroborated allegations of sexual assault swirling around then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Cuomo tweeted that the judge should submit to a polygraph test.