New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D.) brushed off a reporter's question about sexual harassment in state government, accusing her of doing a "disservice to women."
During a Wednesday press conference, NYS Public Radio's Karen DeWitt asked the Democrat about former aide Sam Hoyt, who resigned in October after being accused of paying hush money after sleeping with a coworker and was later sued by a second woman for sexual harassment.
"You did have [harassment] going on within your own administration allegedly, with Sam Hoyt. What could you do differently to kind of pick up on that?" she asked Cuomo.
"You have it going on in journalism," he shot back. "What are you going to do differently?"
DeWitt tried to get the conversation back to state government, but Cuomo protested. "No, it’s about you and journalism, and it’s about you and journalism, and it’s about state government, and it’s about carpentry—"
"Is your administration going to do anything differently, to maybe be a bit more aware?" asked DeWitt.
Cuomo promised to institute "policies in state government" without offering specifics.
"When you say ‘it’s state government,’ you do a disservice to women, with all due respect, even though you’re a woman," he said. "It’s not government. It's society."