Kathy Hochul Calls Republican Voters ‘Anti-American,’ Ties N.Y. GOP Candidates to Trump
Governor Kathy Hochul (D., N.Y.) did not mince words when describing how she feels about the New Yorkers voting for her political opponents.
Hochul appeared on MSNBC Saturday to discuss former president Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden campaign rally last weekend and linked it to Republicans running in her state.
“If you’re voting for these Republicans in New York, you’re voting for someone who supports Donald Trump, and you’re anti-woman, you’re anti-abortion, and basically you’re anti-American because you have just trashed American values and what our country is all about,” Hochul said.
Her pronouncement immediately drew outrage from New York Republicans, who objected to Hochul questioning the patriotism of Trump voters. They connected it to President Joe Biden’s recent remark that Trump supporters are “garbage,” a comment the former president immediately embraced on the campaign trail.
“Absolutely unacceptable remarks from Governor Hochul,” New York state senate minority leader Rob Ortt (R) said on X.
“These Americans aren’t ‘garbage.’ They’re patriots voting for a better future for all of us,” he added.
Representative Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) also tied Hochul’s statement to businessman Mark Cuban’s claim that Trump does not surround himself with an intelligent women, a remark Cuban later walked back after widespread criticism. Cuban is a prominent surrogate of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, especially for Harris’s outreach to the business community.
“First, they called us ‘Deplorables.’ Then, they called us ‘Nazis.’ Then, Joe Biden called us ‘garbage.’ Then, they said no ‘strong intelligent’ women support Trump,” Stefanik said on X.
“The Democrat Party led by Kamala Harris is an absolute disgrace as they smear American patriots who want to save our country by supporting President Trump and Republicans.”
Hochul’s 2022 opponent, former Representative Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.), blasted his old rival and mocked Harris’s “joy” messaging.
“Quite the closing message from the so called campaign of joy: If you don’t vote Democrat, you are Nazi, Hitler loving, anti-American garbage,” he said. Zeldin massively over-performed during the 2022 midterms, losing to Hochul by just six points in a state Biden won by a 23-point margin.
New York is a reliably blue state and expected to go Harris’s way Tuesday night. But, it is one of the most important battlegrounds for competitive down-ballot congressional races that could determine whether Republicans retain their extremely narrow House majority.
Incumbent Republicans who won tight elections two years ago in New York City suburbs and further upstate are now facing well-funded Democratic opponents attempting to associate them with Trump and red-state abortion bans.
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