Disgraced ex-governor Andrew Cuomo (D., N.Y.) on Sunday made his first public appearance since his resignation, preaching at a black Brooklyn church that "God isn't finished with me yet."
Cuomo refused to admit to allegations of sexual harassment leveled against him while he spoke at God's Battalion of Prayer church in Crown Heights. Instead, he defended himself and maintained he wasn't aware that his actions made women "feel uncomfortable." He also accused public officials, such as state attorney general Letitia James (D.), of "prosecutorial misconduct" and went after his critics in the media and Democratic Party, as well as the "political sharks in Albany" who "smelled blood."
"The press roasted me, my colleagues were ridiculed, my brother was fired. It was ugly. It was probably the toughest time of my life," Cuomo said during the 20-minute speech. "I haven't spoken about it in public yet because I wanted to talk about it here with you because God's guidance is helping me through."
Cuomo's return to the public eye comes one week after the former New York governor and his political campaign rolled out TV ads aimed at "clearing [his] name." Speaking to the Brooklyn congregation, Cuomo also blamed "cancel culture" for his fall from grace.
"If you want to cancel something," Cuomo said, "cancel federal gridlock, cancel the incompetence, cancel the infighting, cancel crime, cancel homelessness, cancel education inequality, cancel poverty, cancel racism. Be outraged, but be outraged at what really matters and what really matters to you."
Rev. Alfred Cockfield II introduced Cuomo at the church as "a friend." The then-governor last year appointed Cockfield to serve on the Long Island Power Authority board of trustees.
When asked whether he was planning to run for political office again, Cuomo responded, "I said what I said today."