Hochul: Mamdani’s Defund the Police Call Was ‘Back in 2020 When Many People Were’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Inside Politics,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) stated that New York City mayoral candidate Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s (D) call to defund the police was “back in 2020 when many people were.”

Host Manu Raju asked, “Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) — who could challenge you in that race — posted to X overnight saying, ‘We cannot allow radical anti-police dangerous policies to continue’ and then she went on to attack the New York mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, saying, ‘Flashback : Kathy Hochul’s very own Commie Mamdani A disgrace and truly unfit to be Mayor of New York City’ the June 2020 post from Mamdani calling to ‘defund the police.’ What do you say to Rep. Stefanik?”

Hochul answered, “That’s about as pathetic as it gets. Seriously, going after an unelected official who said something back in 2020 when many people were. Come on, give me a break. Ask her the question, what are you doing to make your constituents safe? You don’t mind taking away their health care, you don’t mind education cuts, you don’t mind nutrition cuts, you don’t mind hurting your farmers. Why don’t you have some spine and stand up for the people who put you in your spot? And so, that’s what I’m looking for, people to not be deflecting. Stand up to the gun lobby and show that you have the courage to do something that’s actually pretty useful, instead of just complaining about tweets. I don’t talk about tweets, I don’t do tweets on this. I govern. I know what I’m doing. And we have the toughest gun laws in the nation, and, as I said, we are in the top — we are number one of the large states for gun safety. That’s what my job is. The governor is supposed to save her constituents and I’m doing that every day with these tough laws, and I’m going to continue. One murder, one slaughter of an individual is too many, but…no governor in the history of New York has invested more money and resources for our local law enforcement to stop crimes and our crime rates are dropping dramatically. $2.6 billion, that’s what I call funding the police. So, stop deflecting.”

Hochul also declined to endorse Mamdani.

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett