This morning a bunch of NY elected officials, led by AOC and Jamaal Bowman called on Gov. Cuomo to resign. This afternoon Cuomo gave another presser saying he would not be resigning because he refused to give in to “cancel culture.” But there were two big name Democrats in New York who hadn’t called on Cuomo to resign yet. Finally this afternoon they released a joint statement:

NEWS: Schumer and Gillibrand want Cuomo gone, breaking their silence pic.twitter.com/Y3J7okqvCa

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 12, 2021

It’s not clear what finally brought these two across the line. Maybe it was the fact that so many other Democrats were going ahead. Maybe it was the lengthy new story in New York magazine. Or maybe it was Lindsey Boylan, Cuomo’s first accuser, who was keeping the pressure on them all day.

You are cowards @SenGillibrand @SenSchumer and I look forward to supporting whoever primaries you.

— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) March 12, 2021

Not only will I help fund this, but I will show up on every talk show to oppose you both @SenSchumer and @SenGillibrand. I will call you out for the cowards you are. I am so tired of your lack of courage. It’s tied to every problem we have in this country.

— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) March 12, 2021

Gillibrand got a special call out:

Posting without comment. https://t.co/dLgxzRuZBX pic.twitter.com/t7NGbAVRmd

— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) March 12, 2021

Boylan also pointed out there was another high profile Democrat in New York who hasn’t spoken up.

https://t.co/r2A7OwdJgZ pic.twitter.com/IeJbS0VAIr

— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) March 12, 2021

Hillary refusing to react to a powerful man sexually harassing women under her nose. Well, at least she’s consistent.

Whatever it was that prompted Schumer and Gillibrand, the question is: What happens now? The hitch for Cuomo is that the nature of this scandal makes it impossible for him to deploy the methods he normally would to control it, i.e. he can’t have his people on the phone screaming at reporters and Democrats because that would just feed the narrative that he’s a bully. All he can really do is beg people to wait for the process to play out.

But what exactly is the point if, as seems likely, the allegations are true. At some point I have to think it will dawn on him that delaying the inevitable in this case really does nothing but delay the inevitable. Waiting another three months (or whatever) isn’t going to make this cool off and go away. It’s way past that point. If anything it might make his accusers and his party angrier. Even worse, his refusal might bring out more accusers. There’s just no clear way out of this.

So I think the time it takes for Cuomo to give in is probably a measure of the thickness of his own skull. He should probably pack it in this weekend, but a guy who has had this much power over everyone around him for this many years may have a hard time facing reality. But I’ll repeat what I said a few days ago. I think he’s done.