Hillary Clinton accuses GOP of using fear tactics during NYC rally for Gov. Hochul
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Republicans of using fear tactics to attract voters during a Manhattan rally for Gov. Kathy Hochul Thursday night.
Clinton was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris as the two powerful Democrats put their weight behind Hochul, who has been losing ground to Republican rival Rep. Lee Zeldin in the final days of the governor’s race.
“They don’t care about keeping you safe,” Clinton said of Republicans during the rally at Barnard College. “They want to keep you scared.”
The former Democratic presidential candidate said the Republican Party ambushes New Yorkers with ads about crime using “scary pictures and scary music,” but offers no solutions to combat violence.
“I see … ads about crime every 30 seconds,” Clinton said. “No solutions, but just a lot of really fearful, scary pictures and scary music.”
She then invoked the hammer attack that left House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband hospitalized with a skull fracture to demonstrate the GOP’s alleged indifference to crime victims.
“Then a terrible crime happens in San Francisco; an intruder hits an 82-year-old man in the head with a hammer — who happens to be married to the Speaker of the House — and the Republicans joke about it,” Clinton said.
Rising crime has been the key campaign platform for Zeldin, and his laser focus on the issue has helped him inch closer to cinching the governorship in a surprisingly close race in the largely blue state.
According to one poll released Monday, Zeldin, a Long Island congressman, leapt ahead of the Democratic incumbent leading with 48.4% to Hochul’s 47.6% in a survey done by the Trafalgar Group.
The Republican held his own rally Thursday night near Albany, where he was joined by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R- North Country) and other GOP candidates.
Zeldin, who voted against certifying 2020 presidential results from certain states, poked fun at Hochul’s rally’s attendance during the rally.
“While we’re here, Kathy Hochul is rallying with Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris and the entire crowd would probably fit like over here,” Zeldin said at one point while gesturing towards a sliver of the crowd approaching 1,000 people.
Zeldin’s growing success comes as a number of high-profile violent attacks — largely concentrated in the city — have made headlines.
Clinton, however, was the only speaker at Hochul’s “Women’s Rally,” which also featured Vice President Kamala Harris, to mention crime in their remarks at the all-women’s college.
Instead, all three leaders focused largely on issues affecting women — including the loss of abortion protection — as well as their trail-blazing roles. Hochul would become the first woman to be elected New York governor. She became the first woman to serve as governor following Andrew Cuomo’s resignation during his sexual harassment scandal.
“To all of you but particularly to the women of New York, this is our moment,” Hochul said Thursday.
The governor expressed doubt over her opponent’s stance on abortion. The day after the Supreme Court ruling that revoked national abortion rights, Zeldin said that “the law in New York was exactly the same as it was the day before. Nothing changed, and I’m not going to change it.”
“You know why nothing changed in the state of New York? Because I’m the governor,” Hochul said to cheers.
With Post wires
