(NewsNation Now) — Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich believes if Andrew Cuomo is innocent of the accusations of sexual harassment made against him that he should not have resigned and instead try to clear his name.

The former governor may have an idea of the political reality Cuomo is now facing. Blagojevich did not resign office but instead was arrested in 2008 on corruption charges. He was impeached in 2009 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

“For me, I certainly feel terrible for him. I don’t want to kick a guy when he’s down,” Blagojevich said. “And yet I do feel like there’s a big difference between what he did today and what I continue to do. And that is I never gave in. I never gave up. I insisted on my innocence. I still do. And I went down fighting.”

Blagojevich said it sounds like the accusations against Cuomo are true, and if they are, he should accept responsibility. But since Cuomo is denying the charges, Blagojevich said he should defend himself.

However, the former Illinois governor doesn’t believe the sexual harassment accusations are as big a scandal as the COVID-19 nursing home deaths in New York.

“I think his bigger problem, frankly, is the nursing home scandal, where 6,000 seniors lost their lives because of misguided policy that he had put in place. That to me is the biggest scandal.”