Conservatives Blast Cuomo Over Remarks--Demand Respect
Gov. Cuomo is under attack from Donald Trump, Rob Astorino and other leading Republicans for his jaw-dropping claim that conservatives who oppose abortion and gay rights and favor traditional gun ownership "have no place in the state of New York.''
Trump, who says he'll decide about entering the governor's race next month, called the comments "a terrible statement, an unfortunate statement."
"New York already leads the nation in chasing away its own citizens because of extraordinary high taxes, so does Cuomo really want to bully millions more away?'' Astorino said. (Astorino is a potential candidate for governor)
State GOP Chairman Ed Cox plans to publicly urge Cuomo to apologize for his comments.
"I will call on Gov. Cuomo to apologize to all New Yorkers for poisoning New York's politics with divisive rhetoric at a time when New York needs to be united to address its continuing economic problems,'' Cox said.
A spokeswoman for Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos of Nassau County, said state officials over the last three years have shown they can "come together and consider ideas from the left and from the right and get results."
"The freedom to express this diversity of ideas is the foundation on which our nation rests and what makes our state and country great," Kelly Cummings, the spokeswoman, said in a statement. "Conservatives deserve to have their closely held values respected, as well as their right to participate in the public discourse."
Sources for these statements are from
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/01/21/andrew-cuomo-conservatives-extreme/4719915/
http://nypost.com/2014/01/20/gop-blasts-cuomos-comments-on-conservatives/