Left-wing actor Alec Baldwin appeared to blame “cancel culture” for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) resignation, calling the affair “a tragic day.”
“Regardless of what you think of Cuomo, this is a tragic day,” Alec Baldwin tweeted. “Party politics in this country draw ambitious but ultimately isolated, even socially maladjusted men and women who, given the current cancel culture, will likely have their shortcomings exposed and magnified.”
Earlier Tuesday, Cuomo announced he would be stepping down from his post effective in 14 days amid the threat of impeachment by state lawmakers. The governor faced removal over a bombshell attorney general report that accused him of sexual misconduct against 11 women, a number of which were staff members at the time.
“I think that given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside,” Cuomo stated in his first press conference since the report.
“This is one of the most challenging times for government in a generation,” the governor continued. “Government really needs to function today, government needs to perform. It is a matter of life and death.”
“Wasting energy on distractions is the last thing [the] state government should be doing,” he added.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (pictured, top right), a 62-year-old Democrat and former member of Congress from the Buffalo area, will become the state’s 57th governor and the first woman to hold the post.
“I agree with Governor Cuomo’s decision to step down. It is the right thing to do and in the best interest of New Yorkers,” Hochul tweeted.
The #MeToo-era scandal cut short not just a career but a dynasty: Cuomo’s father, Mario Cuomo, was governor in the 1980s and ’90s, and the younger Cuomo was often mentioned as a potential candidate for president, an office his father famously contemplated seeking. Even as the scandal mushroomed, Cuomo was planning to run for reelection in 2022.
Cuomo still faces the possibility of criminal charges, with a number of prosecutors around the state moving to investigate him.
The string of accusations that spelled the governor’s downfall began to unfold in news reports last December and went on for months.
Cuomo called some of the allegations fabricated, forcefully denying he touched anyone inappropriately. But he acknowledged making some aides uncomfortable with comments he said he intended as playful, and he apologized for some of his behavior.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.