Four years into the #MeToo movement, there’s little consensus among Democrats around the appropriate process for handling such claims or the punishment for them. Until recently the allegations against Mr. Cuomo were mostly in the realm of sexual harassment, and Democratic voters have expressed reluctance to call for a resignation over such accusations without an investigation, according to interviews and exchanges with dozens of them this week. The groping claim rises to an accusation of assault, which has made some Democrats more open to his stepping down.
Yet a number expressed their view that Democratic officials accused of sexual misconduct have lost their jobs in recent years while Republicans haven’t — a misperception mostly driven by impressions of Mr. Franken’s resignation. It is a sentiment intertwined with lingering feelings about former President Donald J. Trump, who many Democrats believe never paid a political price after being accused of far worse treatment of women…
“What’s hard for people to hold in their mind is a discordant belief that at the same time that this person made you feel safe, he was doing things and making decisions that were not only bad, but riddled with misconduct,” said Ms. Biaggi, who was one of the first to call for his resignation.
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