Kathy Hochul should ‘give up her creepy obsession’ with Ron DeSantis: critics
Gov. Kathy Hochul needs to “give up her creepy obsession” with Gov. Ron DeSantis, critics said Friday, saying her constant shots at the conservative Florida firebrand is only amping up his national profile.
Hochul’s attacks on DeSantis have escalated in recent weeks, sparking controversy ahead of the Nov. 8 race against GOPer Rep. Lee Zeldin — who is fundraising with DeSantis on Sunday.
“Hochul should give up her creepy obsession with Florida and focus on the crime and economic crises in her own backyard,” New York GOP State Committee Chair Nick Langworthy said in a statement Friday.
Hochul’s rhetorical blitz against DeSantis began earlier this month when she unexpectedly brought him up at a Manhattan event commemorating the Holocaust.
“I just want to say to the 1.77 million Jews who call New York home: Thank you for calling New York home,” the governor cracked. “Don’t go anywhere or to another state. Florida is overrated.
“I shouldn’t say this, but look at the governor. It starts at the top down.”
And Hochul lambasted DeSantis twice this week, including Tuesday night, following the special congressional election win of Democrat Pat Ryan over Republican Marc Molinaro.
“We’re here to say that the era of Trump and Zeldin and [Marc] Molinaro — just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong. OK? Get out of town. Because you don’t represent our values.”
When asked about the comments Thursday and the ongoing exodus of New Yorkers to states like Florida, Hochul took another swipe at DeSantis’ work.
“You know anybody whose in Florida who put their kids in public school down there?” Hochul said on WNYC when asked whether New Yorkers get better value down south.
Mounting attacks on the potential 2024 presidential candidate by Hochul and her allies from the Sunshine State are testing how ex-President Donald Trump might not be the all-consuming bogeyman he once was among the political left in his home state, experts say.
“It’s striking that DeSantis is supplanting Trump as the whipping post for Democrats this cycle,” said Republican political consultant William O’Riley. “It suggests that attacks on DeSantis may actually be more effective in campaigns now than attacks on Trump.”
Culture war fights over issues like transgender rights and whether to teach young students about sexual orientation fueled DeSantis’ growing national profile, which political consultants for both parties agree makes it a no brainer for Hochul and other Democrats to pay more attention to him versus to Trump.
“He is certainly moving up. That is why [California Gov. Gavin Newsom] ran ads against him in Florida,” GOP operative Jason Weingartner told The Post Friday about DeSantis, who is also running for reelection this year and could be poised to make a run for president in 2024.
A Sunday visit by the Florida governor to affluent Oyster Bay on Long Island is one more sign of the national reach of the Florida governor, who will help Zeldin raise money to counter Hochul’s multi-million dollar fundraising advantages in the race.
But his presence brings political risks for Zeldin, similar to those associated to appearances with the likes of Donald Trump Jr. and ex-President Trump himself, whose actions and words Democrats are now trying to use against the GOP gubernatorial standard-bearer.
“He’d like to be the nominee of the Republican Party in 2024 for president, so you know, he is trying to adopt Trump’s views and he appeals to Trump’s base,” Democratic state Chair Jay Jacobs told The Post Friday. “And so I think that they’re pretty much one and the same in many respects.”
Hochul-endorsed Long Island congressional hopeful Jackie Gordon slammed the Zeldin-DeSantis faction, saying it’s “part of a concerted effort from Republicans nationwide to take away a woman’s right to choose.”
Hochul, meanwhile, accused her political opponents of misconstruing her words, and said she really means that she wants Trump, who already lives in Florida, Molinaro and Zeldin to join DeSantis in the Sunshine State.
“I spoke about the three people whose views that we believe are extreme,” Hochul told reporters at an Albany press conference where she alleged that Zeldin, if elected, would take executive action to undermine reproductive rights in the state.
Zeldin spokeswoman Katie Vincentz fired back, “If Kathy Hochul focused on the issues most important to New Yorkers — crime, the economy, corruption and more — maybe her constituents wouldn’t be fleeing in record numbers to states like Florida.”
