By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Tea Party-backed gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino backed off claims that rival Andrew Cuomo was unfaithful to his ex-wife Kerry Kennedy, saying Thursday that he only meant to draw attention to what he viewed as unfair media coverage of his own extramarital affairs.
Paladino, who has a 10-year-old daughter from an extramarital affair, had alleged in an interview with Politico Tuesday that Cuomo had affairs during his marriage to Kennedy and claimed to have evidence of the affairs. Paladino later explained he was just trying to prove that Cuomo's personal life had not been examined as closely as his own.
"I'm sick and tired of people asking me if I've had affairs," Paladino said, the Buffalo News reported. "I was talking to [a reporter with Politico.com] and said, 'Why don't you ask Andrew Cuomo if he has had extramarital affairs. It's not that I was accusing him."
Paladino is currently trailing the Democtatic candidate with 38 percent of the vote to Cuomo's 53 percent, according to the latest Marist Poll.
