New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio blasted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo after a Democratic state lawmaker revealed Cuomo threatened him for criticizing his cover-up of coronavirus deaths in New York’s nursing homes.
De Blasio, who has regularly clashed with Cuomo, told MSNBC Cuomo’s “bullying” is “nothing new.”
“It’s a sad thing to say, but that’s classic Andrew Cuomo. A lot of people in New York state have received those phone calls,” he said.
State Assemblyman Ron Kim revealed this week that Cuomo called him last Thursday and attempted a mafioso-style threat if Kim refused to help him cover-up his administration’s attempt to hide New York’s true coronavirus death toll from the federal government.
“Mr. Kim, are you an honorable man?” he asked, requesting that Kim draft a statement excusing the cover-up.
As Kim resisted, Cuomo allegedly became more agitated, saying, “You have not seen my wrath. I have been biting my tongue for months.”
He also threatened retaliation against Kim, saying he would “tell the whole world what a bad person you are” and warning, “You will be destroyed.”
Kim said he had “no choice” but to speak up because Cuomo “crossed a line that can’t be undone.”
De Blasio said he believes Kim because of what he knows about Cuomo.
“I believe Ron Kim. No public servant, no person who’s telling the truth should be treated that way,” de Blasio said.
“The threats, the belittling, the demand that someone change their statement right that moment,” he continued. “Many, many times I’ve heard that, and I know a lot of other people in the state have heard that.”
