In the aftermath of the Trump Administration taking a much harder line with the state of New York, yanking funding over its sanctuary policies and bringing charges against Governor Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and others, Gov. Hochul went berserk in an appearance on CBS News in which she vowed defiance against the Trump Administration.
As background, AG Bondi said at the time that she brought charges against Hochul and others, commenting on the charges and describing against whom in New York they had been brought by her DOJ, “We’re here today because we have filed charges against the state of New York. We have filed charges against Kathy Hochul. We have filed charges against Letitia James and Mark Schroeder, who is with DMV.”
AG Bondi then noted that her DOJ act differently from past ones that let illegal immigrants prey on Americans, saying, “This is a new DOJ, and we are taking steps to protect Americans, American citizens and angel moms.” She further added, “New York has chosen to prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens. It stops today. We sued Illinois. New York did not listen. Now you’re next.”
That came when Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program with host Margaret Brennan on Sunday, February 23. Brennan, introducing the governor, said, “We turn now to Trump’s clash with Democratic governors. Joining us now from Albany, New York, is the governor, Kathy Hochul, good morning to you, Governor.”
Then, introducing the matter of New York’s spats with the Trump Administration, Brennan hinted at the charges by noting the “adversarial” relationship between Hochul and Trump, “I know you were just here in Washington and you met privately with President Trump. In the past, you’ve said the relationship doesn’t have to be adversarial. Was your meeting with him adversarial? And what was your top message?”
Hochul continued, “It was an adversarial meeting, but I was very clear, especially after I found that the Trump administration had ended a program that was put in place, congestion pricing, by the duly elected members of our legislature representing the voice of the people, and with a tweet, he claims that he is the king, and therefore he has the power to destroy it.”
She continued, “And I have a problem with that characterization, because we labored under a king 250 years ago, and as I said, we’re not going back there. So I wanted to take my case to him directly and let him see the benefits of this program, because our city is paralyzed with gridlock, and we had a path forward to be able to make the city move again, and it’s working.”
The governor then vowed to continue fighting President Trump and his administration across a wide array of fronts, saying, “I wanted to just have that opportunity to convey that, but I don’t know that we’re very persuasive on that front, but that’s okay. The people in my state need to know I’m willing to take the fight wherever I have to.”
Later on, Brennan noted that New York is reliant on the federal government for a great deal of funding, noting, “You know, this is not the only standoff between the state and federal government, and the tension here, I know you were in Washington with other governors who were meeting with the President this week. Federal funds account for about 40% of your state’s budget. President Trump is threatening to withhold federal funds to governors in order to force compliance with his agenda. Here’s what he said to the governor of Maine.”
Brennan then played a clip of Trump saying he would cut funding for states that don’t comply with his agenda, and asked Hochul if governors will fight that. Responding, Hochul said, “What he is doing is they’ve described it as flooding the zone. They’re attacking California when it comes to FEMA dollars. They’re filing lawsuits in Illinois. They’re going after Maine on this, and they’re coming after programs that have been duly put in place in the state- What they’re trying to do is create this theater of all kinds of activity that is trying to be a distraction to us.”
She continued, “And when someone floods the zone in a football game, what you need to have is the defenders be very disciplined, smart, but also stand their ground. And that’s exactly what New York governors, the governor of New York will do in cooperation with our governors. We’re not going to sit idly by and let our rights be attacked.”
She concluded, “We’ll work with you when there’s common ground, no doubt about it, let’s build great projects and infrastructure. There’s areas where we’re going to work with you on immigration and getting the violent criminals off our streets. We do not dispute that, but don’t think that you can just come in and bully us around and not expect a reaction from governors.”