During her Tuesday press conference, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki refused to state whether President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris would condemn New York Governor Andrew Cuomo after he was accused of sexual harassment by three separate women.
Biden's Press Secretary Jen Psaki refuses to say if either Biden or Harris will publicly condemn Cuomohttps://t.co/OCpN9E4MEi pic.twitter.com/fnWrUceYJM
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 2, 2021
"At what point is the first female vice president going to say something about this?" Psaki was asked.
"Let me reiterate that they both believe that every woman coming forward should be heard, should be treated with dignity, and treated with respect," Psaki responded. "As you all know, the New York Attorney General will oversee an independent investigation with subpoena power, and the Governor's office said he will fully cooperate."
"Can we expect to hear from either [the president or the vice president] on this topic anytime soon?" Psaki was asked in response, with the reporter noting that it would mean a lot more if they said so themselves.
Why the silence from Vice President Harris on Cuomo? She called out Kavanaugh and Franken. @PressSec reiterates that Harris and Biden "both believe that every woman coming forward should be heard, should be treated with dignity and treated with respect."
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) March 2, 2021
Psaki insisted, however, that she speaks on behalf of the president and the vice president, and that what she said before is representative of their points of view.
Governor Cuomo has faced controversy in recent weeks after he was accused of sexually harassing a former aide. Since then, two more women have come forward with allegations of inappropriate behaviour from Cuomo.
The alleged sexual harassment mostly took the form of inappropriate comments, with Cuomo asking aides if he could kiss them or to perform other sexual acts such as strip poker.
One of the women said that Cuomo kept bringing up her history of sexual assault and her activism in fighting it.
Cuomo has denied the allegations that he sexually harassed the women, but said he may have said things which could be interpreted as inappropriate.