Andrew Cuomo Claims Diversity May Be ‘A Weakness’ | EUROtoday

New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo stated “diversity can be a weakness” when requested to sentence Islamophobic remarks about his opponent Zohran Mamdani.

“As New York governor for 11 years and attorney general, our diversity is our strength,” Cuomo, who’s operating for mayor as an unbiased and trailing within the polls, stated Saturday on MSNBC. “But it can also be a weakness, so you have to work very, very hard to make sure you’re always keeping people united, and there’s always flare-ups among different races, religions, creeds for one reason or another.”

MSNBC Eugene Daniels, who appeared shocked at Cuomo’s remark, requested Cuomo to “correct the record” if he didn’t imply to say that. Cuomo doubled down.

“Diversity can be a weakness if you have antipathy among groups, Jonathan,” Cuomo stated, getting Daniels’ title improper.

Cuomo continued: “If you have racism or antisemitism, etc. So then you’d have friction, right? Which we have had in New York, and so you have to work very hard to keep it as a positive and to make sure that it’s not a negative, and you have zero tolerance for any racism, any antisemitism, etc.”

In a remark to HuffPost, a consultant for Cuomo stated, “It’s what he says all the time, New York’s diversity is its greatest strength and if the forces of hate and division are allowed to take hold, it weakens us from within. Those trying to make this anything other than what it is are desperately trying to gaslight their way through this election.”

Cuomo’s reply got here after he was requested about his look on a radio present a number of weeks in the past. On the radio present, Cuomo laughed together with conservative radio character Sid Rosenberg after Rosenberg stated Mamdani, who’s Muslim, would cheer if one other Sept. 11 occurred. After Cuomo laughed, he stated, “That’s another problem. But can you imagine that? If Mamdani was in the seat on 9/11, what would have happened to this city?”

Cuomo stated on MSNBC that Rosenberg “made that comment as a joke” and Cuomo didn’t right him as a result of “he was not my supporter.”

He additionally added he didn’t recall present New York City Mayor Eric Adams making an Islamophobic remark whereas endorsing Cuomo on Oct. 23.

When MSNBC host Jacqueline Alemany requested if Cuomo condemned Islamophobic feedback about Mamdani, Cuomo stated “100%.”

“I condemn Islamophobic comments, antisemitic comments, racist comments, bigoted comments, anti-Italian comments, of course,” Cuomo stated.

After Cuomo’s look on Rosenberg’s present, Mamdani referred to as Cuomo’s remarks “disgusting.”

“This is Andrew Cuomo’s final moments in public life, and he’s choosing to spend them making racist attacks on the person who would be the first Muslim to lead the city,” Mamdani stated on PIX11 News.

“And frankly, it’s not about me, it’s about the fact that there are more than 1 million Muslims who live in New York City,” he continued. “And to have our faith be smeared and slandered by someone who at one point was considered a leader in the Democratic Party, showcases the fact that bigotry and racism is not exclusively a Republican problem. It is also a problem within our own party.”