House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dodged a question about Gov. Kathy Hochul calling Republican voters “anti-democratic” — as some of his fellow New York Democrats took the opportunity to pile on even harder.
Rep. Pat Ryan — a Democrat who is hoping to fend off Republican rival Alison Esposito in the closely watched 18th Congressional District Tuesday — wasted no time slamming his opponent as an authoritarian ally at an upstate rally Monday attended by Jeffries and state Attorney General Letitia James.
“She is fully on the train of the far-right fascist Republican Party of today,” Ryan said of Esposito, a former NYPD deputy inspector and lieutenant governor candidate.
As James introduced Jeffries to speak, she called the Republican Party “extremist.”
“What we need are commonsense legislators with common values and a common vision, and individuals who exhibit some damn common sense,” she said. “Democrats, and some good Republicans, because this is not the Republican Party that my mother and father once belonged to. This is an extremist party that we do not recognize.”
The one-two punch of rhetoric came as Hochul faced fire for calling New Yorkers who vote for Republican House candidates such as Esposito “anti-American,” “anti-women” and “anti-abortion” during a Saturday appearance on MSBNC.
When asked by reporters after the rally about Hochul’s comments — which appeared on the front page of Monday’s Post — Jeffries said he had not heard them and emphasized his party is looking to fight for every voter, whether Democrat, independent and “particularly, traditional Republicans.”
The Post pressed Jeffries on how to find common ground when Ryan called Republicans “fascist.”
“We’re not attempting to find common ground: we have repeatedly found common ground,” Jeffries said, pointing to bipartisan votes to raise the debt ceiling, spending packages and funding for Israel.
Many New York GOP elected officials and candidates, such Rep. Elise Stefanik, the fourth-ranking House Republican, have variously questioned the results of the 2020 election — a claim pushed by former President Donald Trump that has been roundly debunked.
Stefanik, who condemned Hochul’s “anti-democratic” remark, was among Republicans who voted against certifying at least some of President Joe Biden’s electoral votes.
Like Jeffries, Mayor Eric Adams avoided Monday weighing in on Hochul’s comment.
He called her a real partner for New York City.
“I cannot say enough about her, and her way of expressing herself during this passionate time, that’s something you need to ask her,” he said.
“I do know this I have said it over and over again we need to show decorum as we’re dealing with this very emotional issue, these elections are very emotional.”
