New York Governor Andrew Cuomo amped up his anti-Trump rhetoric at a campaign stop at a Brooklyn church, saying that "King Trump" was spreading hatred and racial division and that the commander-in-chief used a moral compass which pointed to "sexism, racism, bigotry, and intolerance" instead of the cardinal directions.
“Every neighborhood has it, the scared small man in the house with the high fence and the shiny mailbox, afraid of people who are different. Afraid of people who are a different religion, who speak a different language, who come from a different place,” Cuomo said at the First Baptist Church of Crown Heights in Brooklyn comparing this type of person to President Trump. “The person is threatened by diversity and uses anger to hide the fear.”
"I think New York is not discordant with America. I think this President is discordant with America...Mr. Trump, I’ve known you for 30 years,” Cuomo continued. “You may be a slick salesman who fooled many people of this country but you didn’t fool me and you didn’t fool New Yorkers. We know who you are and we’re going to rise up and tell this nation the truth about who you are.”
“It’s un-American for this President to be spreading the division among us when it was his job to bring unity to all of us,” Cuomo remarked.
The New York governor, who is up for re-election, doubled down on these statements via Twitter saying again, "In Mr. Trump's America, the points on the compass are not north, south, east, or west. They are sexism, racism, bigotry, and intolerance. That is is not who we are. It’s not our character. It’s not our soul."
In Mr. Trump's America, the points on the compass are not north, south, east, or west. They are sexism, racism, bigotry, and intolerance.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 19, 2018
That is is not who we are. It’s not our character. It’s not our soul.https://t.co/Ju5xzk8wIL
His opponent Cynthia Nixon did not directly respond, but campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement, "Andrew Cuomo may be the only Democratic politician in America who needed polling and focus groups to figure out that Donald Trump should be criticized. “That kind of sophisticated political insight can be expensive."
Nixon's campaign also noted that Cuomo has accepted $64,000 in campaign donations from the president who has often donated to both Republican and Democrat candidates "So here’s some free advice: if you want to convince voters that you’re suddenly anti-Trump, start by returning his money," Hitt added.
GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel condemned the remarks via Twitter, saying that the New York Democrat was calling half of the nation "bigots" with his remarks.
First they said America "was never that great” and now they say half of us are bigots. https://t.co/IM5tQMu8ik
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) August 19, 2018
Just last week, Gov. Cuomo was forced to walk back his remarks saying that America "was never that great."