on Campbell
Albany Bureau
ALBANY — A blunt remark from Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week on the viability of “extreme conservatives” in New York has drawn continued criticism from the right, with both national pundits and state political leaders taking offense to the comment.
Cuomo’s Friday remark, in which he said “right to life, pro-assault weapon, anti-gay” conservatives have “no place in the state of New York,” immediately sparked ire from both the state Conservative and Republican parties, attracting headlines across the state and beyond. On Tuesday, state Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox called on Cuomo to apologize. A day earlier, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, a potential candidate to challenge Cuomo’s reelection bid this year, called the governor’s comments “outrageous” and “intolerant.” “I call upon Governor Cuomo to apologize to New York’s good conservatives and Catholics for his statement that they ‘’have no place in the State of New York’ and to all New Yorkers for poisoning New York’s politics with divisive rhetoric at a time when New York needs to be united to address its continuing economic problems,” Cox said in a statement.
Cuomo’s office has att empted to add context to his remark, which was made during a radio interview in response to a question about seeking support from Republican backers.
During the interview, Cuomo detailed what he sees as a “schism” in the state’s Republican Party, in which “extreme” and “moderate” factions are battling to define the party’s ideals. “Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives, who are right to life, pro-assault weapon, anti-gay?” Cuomo said. “Is that who they are? Because if that is who they are, and if they are the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York. Because that is not who New Yorkers are.”
In a pair of open letters to The New York Post , Cuomo aides said Cuomo was referring specifically to candidates for statewide office.
Cuomo’s point was simply that “New York is a politically moderate state” and “an extremist agenda is not politically viable statewide,” Cuomo counsel Mylan Denerstein wrote Monday. Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1 in New York, and Republicans haven’t elected a statewide official since 2002.
A spokeswoman for Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said state officials over the last three years have shown they can “come together and consider ideas from the left and from the right and get results.” Cuomo’s “no place” in New York comment caught the attention of big-name conservative pundits, including Sean Hannity, who said on his syndicated radio show Monday that he “can’t wait to get out” of New York. The remark also drew criticism from right-leaning columnists for the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times , as well as Glenn Beck and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, an upstate New York native.
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