January 20, 2014
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo does not believe some conservatives belong in the state. During a radio show interview the Democratic politician said “extreme conservatives” have “no place in the state. Cuomo went on to define the unwanted Republicans as those who believe in the right to life, are “anti-gay” and are in favor of so-called assault weapons. The label often applied to the popular AR-15 semi-automatic rifles and similar firearms typically anger Second Amendment supporters. Technically speaking, any item used to inflict bodily harm on another person is an assault weapon.
During the WCNY radio show interview with Susan Arbetter on the The Capitol Confidential he went into further detail about how he differentiates common GOP voters from the class of constituents he considers extreme conservatives.
Governor Cuomo explained his separation of classes this way:
“Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and if they are the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”
Since “moderate Republicans has “consistently” approved of Governor Cuomo’s agenda, according to the lawmakers, they are welcome to still reside in New York state. The Democrat also urged the group of citizens who do not fit his non-moderate Republican classification to ask themselves if their “extreme conservative philosophy” can survive in New York – he emphatically stated that the answer to that question would be no.
Cuomo, who is Catholic, garnered the angst of New York’s Catholic Conference representative Dennis Poust on Twitter. The religious spokesman tweeted, “My governor thinks there’s no place in NY for people like me. Can I get a state grant to relocate?”
The NY governor went on to point out that the Republican Part is running against his signature piece of legislation, the SAFE Act. According to Cuomo, moderate GOP politicians voted for the controversial gun control law. Because of the passage of the law which some feel infringes upon Second Amendment rights, the governor believes those Republicans opposed to is do not have a problem with him or their peers across the, but themselves.
Andrew Cuomo further detailed why some conservatives have no place in New York this way:
“If they’re moderate Republicans like in the Senate right now, who control the Senate — moderate Republicans have a place in their state. George Pataki was governor of this state as a moderate Republican; but not what you’re hearing from them on the far right. You have a schism within the Republican Party. They’re searching to define their soul, that’s what’s going on. Is the Republican party in this state a moderate party or is it an extreme conservative party? That’s what they’re trying to figure out. It’s a mirror of what’s going on in Washington. The gridlock in Washington is less about Democrats and Republicans. It’s more about extreme Republicans versus moderate Republicans.”
