Outgoing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) suggested in his first interview since his resignation announcement that he’d have defeated an attempt to impeach and remove him from office.
But Cuomo, who announced on Tuesday that he would leave his position on Aug. 24, claimed to New York Magazine in an interview published Friday that he didn’t want to “drag the state through the mud.”
He will be replaced by the state’s lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, who will become New York’s first female governor.
Cuomo had faced mounting calls for his departure following the release of a report from the state attorney general’s office that concluded he sexually harassed 11 women.
In the interview, Cuomo said he felt as if he’d done “the right thing for the state” with his decision to step down.
“I’m not gonna drag the state through the mud, through a three-month, four-month impeachment, and then win, and have made the State Legislature and the state government look like a ship of fools, when everything I’ve done all my life was for the exact opposite,” he said. “I’m not doing that. I feel good. I’m not a martyr. It’s just, I saw the options, option A, option B.”
According to the article, Cuomo sought to “cut a deal” to not run for a fourth term in return for not being impeached. The idea was “unequivocally dismissed” by New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D).