Mayor Bill de Blasio criticized Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “intimidation” of parliamentarian Ron Kim on Thursday – while he was on the side of Queens politics saying, “I believe him.”
“It’s a sad thing to say, Mika, but this is the classic Andrew Cuomo,” Blasio told Mika Brzezinski on Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.
The host asked Hizzoner to assess Cuomo’s alleged threats to “destroy” Kim if he did not change a public statement related to the nursing home scandal.
De Blasio – who fought publicly with the governor, including during the COVID-19 crisis – said Cuomo’s reaction was nothing new.
“Many people in the state of New York have received these calls,” said de Blasio. “Bullying is nothing new. I believe in Ron Kim and that is very, very sad. No public servant, no person telling the truth, should be treated this way.
“The threats, the depreciation, the requirement that someone change his statement at that moment – many, many times I have heard this and I know many other people in the state who have heard this.”
Later, at his daily press conference, the mayor again supported Kim, reiterating that he is receiving harsh conversations with his state counterpart.
“Many times,” said de Blasio. “I believe in Ron Kim … I believe in him and he didn’t deserve to be treated that way and I admire him for introducing himself and saying exactly what happened.”
He added that the treatment Cuomo gave to Kim, whose uncle died of COVID in a nursing home, “was not acceptable.”
“Ron Kim was trying to raise real and honest concerns on behalf of families in this city, in this state, who have lost loved ones – and that deserves respect and he has not been respected,” said de Blasio.
Kim said Cuomo’s allegedly threatening phone call came on February 11, the day after Governor Melissa DeRosa’s secretary’s surprising admission in a conference call with lawmakers that the state had withheld the actual death toll from asylum residents for fear that was “Used against us” in a federal investigation.
Cuomo allegedly called Kim saying, “You didn’t see my anger,” when he demanded that Kim issue a statement saying that “Melissa DeRosa said there was a federal investigation and that they had to deal with it first.”
“I can tell the whole world how bad you are and it will be over,” said Kim, who said Cuomo.
“You will be destroyed.”
Cuomo’s spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, accused Kim of “lying about his conversation” with the governor, denying that threats had been exchanged.
Asked about de Blasio’s cursing, Azzopardi referred to his 800-word statement on Wednesday, which pointed to “Kim’s long and hostile relationship”.