New York Governor Andrew Cuomo threatened President Trump today after he signed a memo looking to rescind funds from New York City and other Democrat-led “lawless” cities.
Cuomo called an emergency press briefing within a half-hour on Wednesday night to tear into Trump for the order, which cites New York’s rising murder rate and defunding of the NYPD.
According to a report from the New York Post, the Democratic governor lashed out at the president after learning that he intended to withdraw federal funding from “lawless cities” like New York City and Portland, Oregon, where riots and unrest had become almost daily occurrences.
“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,” Cuomo said. “He can’t have enough bodyguards to walk through New York City.”
Cuomo on Trump: “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 thru NYC. People don’t want to have anything to do with him.”https://t.co/2FzvVjorpx
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) September 3, 2020
“The best thing he did for New York City was leave,” Cuomo added.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is slamming President Donald Trump after he ordered the federal government to start defunding New York City. https://t.co/Uplutbtqie pic.twitter.com/k2rdL03Y9t
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) September 3, 2020
Cuomo also took to Twitter to attack Trump, claiming that the president had allowed COVID to “ambush New York” and saying that he had “actively sought to punish NYC since day one.”
The governor also claimed Trump’s “negligence” is the reason New York state suffered the highest COVID-19 death toll. The governor’s critics blame his Health Department’s mandate that forbade nursing homes from turning away COVID-19-positive patients, potentially leading to at least 6,500 deaths.
President Trump has actively sought to punish NYC since day one.
He let COVID ambush New York.
He refuses to provide funds that states and cities MUST receive to recover.
He is not a king. He cannot "defund" NYC.
It's an illegal stunt.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) September 2, 2020
Cuomo covered his threatening remarks towards the end of his emergency press conference saying, “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.”
Earlier Wednesday, Trump called on CNN to fire Cuomo’s younger brother Chris Cuomo over a leaked tape in which he says he was questioned about sexual misconduct. “Fredo must go!” Trump wrote, using an insulting reference from “The Godfather.”
Meanwhile, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was twice mentioned by name in Trump’s order, had his press secretary Bill Neidhardt respond.
“As much as Donald Trump wants New York City to drop dead, we will never let this stand,” Neidhardt tweeted. “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.”
De Blasio himself made no statement.