'That's what I'm saying. Some I believe,
some I don't. That's my right. I don't believe her. These women I
believe completely. I don't think that Joe Biden is the guy who
finger-fucking you in the hallway. I don't. I just don't.'
Charlamagne
responded that although he didn't necessarily believe Reade's claims
either, he said her allegations were 'more serious' than Cuomo's and yet
'I didn't hear people asking him to resign or drop out of the race.'
Tara Reade, who was previously a staffer for the then-Senator Biden, claimed her former boss sexually assaulted her.
Biden and his presidential campaign repeatedly denied her allegations.
Biden previously landed himself in hot water when he appeared on Charlamagne tha God's The Breakfast Club.
The
then-presidential candidate told Charlamagne, during his campaign, that
if he couldn't figure out whether to vote for him or Trump, 'then you
ain't black'.
Biden later apologized admitting he 'shouldn't have been such a wise guy' after facing strong backlash for his comment.
During
Maher's show on Friday, Charlamagne and the host discussed allegations
that were made about Biden's 'inappropriate touching'. But Maher said it
was 'a different issue. That's when he was sniffing their hair.'
'The
first allegation was just ... it wasn't even a MeToo, even though it
was interpreted that way in the press. It was just he was just trying to
do an old-man thing.'
'Hey man, harassment is harassment,' Charlamagne said.
'No, it's not,' Maher responded.
'I
don't think we can tell women the difference between sniffing hair and
saying something inappropriate because I think sniffing hair is just as
inappropriate as saying something,' Charlamagne said.
Maher
defended Biden saying that he was just trying to offer up
encouragement, speaking about Lucy Flores, who accused Biden of grabbing
her shoulders and planting a 'big slow kiss' on the back of her head
when she was campaigning for lieutenant governor of Nevada.
'She was just about to make a speech, he
came up behind her just to be like, 'You're going to do good out there,
honey,'' Maher said. 'Let's not pretend that we live in this world where
all these things are the same.'
'I agree with that,' Charlamagne stated.
Maher then slammed Cuomo for his denials that he was trying to make an advance towards his female accusers.
'Yes,
you were. Just be real about it. 'I'm lonely, I'm horny.' I mean,
there's nothing sadder than a man with no game,' Maher said.
Earlier in the show, Maher turned Cuomo into a laughing stock.
'How
could a politician of this high-profile be this fuckin' stupid?' Maher
said. 'We're four years into the MeToo era, he's this dumb that you
don't hit on the help, don't touch people without their permission. ...
What could this guy be thinking?'
'He
told a girl, 'I'm open to a relationship to a woman in her 20s.' No
kidding,' Maher quipped. 'How big of you! Yes, who hasn't dreamed of
banging Chico Marx?!?'
'Cuomo asked one of the 25-year-old
staffers how she felt having sex with older men and then he said he was
just making small talk,' Maher ribbed.
'Pick a subject, any subject, oh I don't know... sex with older men!'
The
HBO star panned the governor's excuse of making 'small talk' amid
claims of his sexually charged conversations with his former aides.
'He's an amazing man, an Italian with no game,' Maher swiped the 'tone-deaf' Democrat.
'A
lot of people want him to resign now and he said he's not going to
leave his job because then where am I going to meet chicks?'
On
Wednesday, Cuomo said he would not resign but offered a fresh apology
and vowed to 'fully cooperate' with a review by the state's attorney
general.
'I am not going to resign,'
Cuomo told a news conference after he offered an emotional apology for
what he said was behavior that made 'people feel uncomfortable.'
'I
feel awful about it and frankly I am embarrassed by it,' said the
Democratic governor, who has also contended with allegations in recent
weeks that his administration sought to downplay the number of elderly
nursing home residents killed by COVID-19 since the start of the
pandemic.
Cuomo said his behavior
toward the women who have accused him of misconduct was unintentional
and maintained that he never touched anyone inappropriately. Even so, he
acknowledged that it is 'custom' for him to kiss and hug people when
greeting them.
'I understand that
sensitivities have changed and behavior has changed and I get it, and
I'm going to learn from it,' he said.
Three
women, including two former aides, have come forward recently to say
that Cuomo had sexually harassed them or made inappropriate remarks.
Lindsey Boylan, who first came forward in December, said the unwanted
advances included an unsolicited kiss on the lips in Cuomo's New York
City office, which Cuomo denied.
Boylan,
a candidate for Manhattan borough president, dismissed the governor's
apology in a Twitter message on Wednesday. 'How can New Yorkers trust
you @NYGovCuomo to lead our state if you 'don´t know' when you´ve been
inappropriate with your own staff?' she wrote.
The second woman to detail her experience
is Charlotte Bennett, a former executive assistant and health policy
adviser, who told the New York Times in February that Cuomo peppered her
with questions about her romantic life last year in what she viewed as
an effort to have sex with her.
A third
woman, Anna Ruch, has also come forward, telling the New York Times the
governor made unwanted advances and physical contact after meeting her
at a wedding in 2019.
Ruch said that Cuomo touched her bare lower back and asked if he could kiss her.
In
response to Bennett, Cuomo released a statement on Sunday saying he
sometimes playfully teased colleagues and was sorry if he made anyone
uncomfortable, and his office granted the referral required by state law
for New York Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the
complaints.
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