Bill Maher clashed with radio presenter Charlamagne Tha God as the pair discussed sexual misconduct allegations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and President Biden.
During Maher’s Real Time show on HBO Friday night, the panel discussed whether Cuomo needs to resign after he was accused by three women, including two who worked for the administration, of sexual harassment.
Maher stated the he did not believe Cuomo needed to be the subject of an investigation into the allegations, which includes claims of inappropriate conversations and unwanted touching and kissing.
‘It’s always on a case-by-case basis and believe these women completely,’ Maher said.
The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, was the subject of a series of barbs from comedian Bill Maher during his HBO show on Friday night
Maher had a heated debate with radio presenter Charlamagne Tha God who likened Cuomo’s allegations to those against Joe Biden
Charlamagne responded ‘It’s kinda hard to ask Cuomo to resign when ‘you voted for Joe Biden.
‘If you weren’t more upset with Joe Biden, who had more serious allegations…’
‘No, he didn’t!’ Maher interrupted
‘Yeah, he was accused of actual rape,’ Charlamagne said.
‘No, he wasn’t,’ Maher maintained.
‘What are you talking about?!’ Charlamagne gasped.
‘Are you talking about the hallway incident?’ Maher questioned.
‘Tara Reade!’ Charlamagne responded.
‘Well, I don’t believe that,’ said Maher, as he dismissed the allegations.
Tara Reade (pictured) claims that Biden sexually assaulted her in a Congressional hallway when she was working as a Senate staffer in 1993
‘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-b**** 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.
The discussion then moved on to talk about allegations that were made when women spoke 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.
Flores accused Biden of grabbing her shoulders and planting a ‘big slow kiss’ on the back of her head while she was campaigning for lieutenant governor in Nevada (pictured)
”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 f***in’ 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?!?’
Charlotte Bennett, a former staff member for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, alleges he quizzed her about her sex life and asked whether she would be open to a relationship with an older man
‘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, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he would not resign in the wake of a series of sexual misconduct accusations leveled against him by young women but offered a fresh apology
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.
‘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, speaking about Cuomo
‘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.
Charlotte Bennett, 25, worked as an aide for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo earlier this year. She claims he sexually harassed her and left her ‘terrified’
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.
Anna Ruch, 33, (left) claimed Cuomo behaved inappropriately at a Manhattan wedding in September 2019. Lindsey Boylan, 36, (right) claims Cuomo commented on her appearance inappropriately, kissed her without her consent and went out of his way to touch her on her lower back, arms and legs