Cuomo: Woman reporter's question 'disservice to women'

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday a veteran reporter's question on sexual harassment was a "disservice to women" because it too narrowly focused on state government.

Cuomo, a Democrat, challenged the premise of the question from New York State Public Radio's Karen DeWitt, who asked the second-term governor what he plans to do to address sexual harassment in his administration.

The governor quickly turned the question back on reporters, asking what they are going to do about sexual harassment in journalism before saying the problem is "societal" and not limited to government.

The exchange came during a question-and-answer session with reporters in Albany.

"When you say it's state government, you do a disservice to women, with all due respect, even though you're a woman," Cuomo said to DeWitt, who has been covering state government since Cuomo's father, Mario, was governor.

Cuomo continued: "It's not government. It's society. It was Harvey Weinstein in the arts industry. It's comedians. It's politicians. It's chefs, right? It's systemic."

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DeWitt then challenged Cuomo to name one thing his administration would do to combat sexual harassment in government.

Cuomo declined. Instead, he suggested it would be part of his State of the State address on Jan. 3.

"No," Cuomo said. "It's called the State of the State. Come and cover it and see the agenda."

Cuomo's comments immediately gained traction and faced backlash on social media, which led Cuomo's top aide to take to Twitter to try and clarify.

"He was asked about one industry and said it needs to be addressed across the board," wrote Melissa DeRosa, the top aide.

"Limiting the problem to one man, political party or profession misses the whole point of the 'me too' moment."

Later in the day, Cuomo himself tried to clarify his remarks, again saying his point was sexual harassment is a broad problem across many industries.

"My point was we are going to have a comprehensive package addressing the sexual harassment," Cuomo said on a conference call with reporters. "Obviously, part of it will be sexual harassment by government officials, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. This is not just about sexual harassment by government officials."

A spokesman for Cuomo said the governor called DeWitt later Wednesday and told her his tone was not spurred by her question, but rather by news Wednesday that a deal was near on tax-reform legislation in Washington that would strip back the state and local tax deduction, an issue Cuomo has railed against for weeks.