Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York went on an unhinged rant against President Trump’s latest action to look into defunding New York City and other “lawless” jurisdictions.
Within a half-hour of President Trump sending a memo to multiple federal agencies to start a review of funding of any jurisdiction that is allowing riots and looting to take place while defunding their police, Governor Cuomo called an emergency press briefing.
During the briefing, Governor Cuomo made a veiled threat against President Trump, stating: “He better have an army if he thinks he’s gonna walk down the street in New York. New Yorkers don’t want to have anything to do with him… He can’t have enough bodyguards to walk through New York City, people don’t want to have anything to do with him.”
Twitter blew up with people calling out Governor Cuomo for his obvious threat on the president. Mark Simone, radio and podcast host, commented on the threat:
https://twitter.com/MarkSimoneNY/status/1301606430353522689
Cuomo also argued that the action taken by the Trump administration is illegal, political, and an “attempt to kill New York City.”
The memo specifically mentioned New York City, Portland, Seattle, and Washington, DC.
Cuomo made the attacks personal, claiming that Trump wasn’t actually concerned about New York’s soaring murder rate, increase in shootings, and destructive riots. “I think it’s because he is from New York City and New York City rejected him, always. He was dismissed as a clown in New York City, those who know him best, like him least,” the Governor said.
“He was disrespected in New York City. Nobody took him seriously and he was just a tabloid cartoon,” Cuomo continued.
The Governor even went so far as to bring Trump’s family into the attack, stating that “his sister, a former federal judge, is disgraced by him.” Cuomo is referring to a claim in a recent book by Trump’s niece, Mary Trump.
Governor Cuomo then went on to attack President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, blaming the high death toll in New York on the president’s “negligence”. He says this despite the clear evidence that Governor Cuomo did not take the threat of COVID seriously in the beginning, and despite the fact that his policies as Governor directly led to the deaths of at least 6,500 elderly people in nursing homes.
Walking it Back
At the end of the briefing, Cuomo seemed to realize that his remarks about President Trump were blatant threats, and attempted to walk them back.
“My comment about the president and bodyguards in New York City, all I’m saying is that he is persona non grata in New York City. And I think he knows that. And he’ll never come back to New York, because New Yorkers will never forget how gratuitously mean he has been to New Yorkers and how many times he’s tried to kill the city that gave him his start and birthed him. That’s what I meant about the bodyguards,” he stated.
The “Mayor’s” Response
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio didn’t have the nerve to respond to Trump’s announcement himself. Instead, he has his press secretary, Bill Neidhardt, make a comment.
“As much as Donald Trump wants New York City to drop dead, we will never let this stand. This has nothing to do with ‘law and order.’ This is a racist campaign stunt out of the Oval Office to attack millions of people of color,” Neidhardt tweeted, giving no reasoning for how defunding an entire city is racist against one group of people.
Democrats, including the leadership of New York City, are trying to portray this action as President Trump defunding the police, which is laughable.
“I guess we know now which candidate for president supports defunding the police,” City Councilman Rory Lancman, chair of the Committee on the Justice System said.
Rep. Max Rose, a Democrat representing Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, said, “With this order, President Trump is joining Mayor de Blasio in defunding the police. It was wrong then and it’s wrong now.”
How can they possibly portray defunding a city that has already voted to defund the police, as defunding the police? The mainstream media is obviously going to have to work double-time to help them spin this narrative, if it’s even possible to do.