Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., dodged a question about whether she would endorse New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani during an interview on Tuesday.
On CNN's "Inside Politics," fill-in host Manu Raju spoke to Hochul about the deadly New York City shooting that occurred on Monday, and asked the governor to respond to Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., highlighting a post by Mamdani in which he called for defunding the police in 2020.
"That's about as pathetic as it gets. I mean, seriously, going after an unelected official who said something back in 2020 when many people were, I mean, come on, give me a break," Hochul said.
"Stand up to the gun lobby and show that you have the courage to do something that's actually pretty useful. Instead of just complaining about tweets. I don't talk about tweets. I don't do tweets on this. I govern, I know what I'm doing, and we have the toughest gun laws in the nation," she added.
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"And as I said, we are in the top. We have the number one in the large states for gun safety. That's what my job is. The governor is supposed to save her constituents, and I'm doing that every day with these tough laws," Hochul continued in response to Stefanik, a possible Republican contender for New York governor.
Hochul went on to defend her own record, and argued that she has invested more money in law enforcement than any New York governor.
"That's what I call funding the police. So stop deflecting," she said of Stefanik.
Raju noted that it was Mamdani who called for defunding the police in 2020 and then asked Hochul if she was going to endorse him.
"No, listen, that's - why do we talk about this today? There are families that are grieving. I'm sorry, you know, we're not talking politics. This is not the time and place for it," Hochul said, referring to the lives that had been affected by the shooting.
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Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary earlier this month.
The socialist candidate received endorsements from key progressives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Hochul has defended Mamdani against threats from President Donald Trump, but has yet to endorse him for mayor.
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Mamdani will face off against Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams, and Jim Walden, who are all running as Independents, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
