New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is
coming under fire after stating that extreme conservatives cannot win
statewide elections in New York.
Cuomo, a Democrat, made his remarks
while discussing the widening rift between moderates and
conservatives in the Republican Party.
“Their problem isn't me and the
Democrats; their problem is themselves,” Cuomo, who signed the
state's gay marriage law, said Friday during an appearance on The
Capitol Pressroom radio show.
“Who are they?” Cuomo rhetorically
asked.
“Are they these extreme
conservatives, who are right to life, pro-assault weapon, anti-gay? Is
that who they are? Because if that is who they are and if they are
extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York.”
“You have a schism within the
Republican Party. They're searching to define their soul. That's
what's going on.”
“'We don't agree with gay marriage,
we are anti-gay', that is fine but 70% of this state, about, is now
pro-gay marriage so figure out who you are and figure out if you are
of an extreme conservative philosophy and if you can survive in this
state. And the answer is no,” he later added.
In a letter to The New York Post
on Sunday, the Cuomo administration responded to criticism following
a Post headline which read: “Gov. Cuomo to Conservatives:
Leave NY.”
“If you read the transcript, it is
clear that the Governor was making the observation that an extreme
right candidate cannot win statewide because this is a politically
moderate state (either moderate Republican or moderate Democratic),”
the
letter states.