Blakeman blasts Hochul for sanctuary policies after NYC ICE shooting during contentious gov debate
Bruce came out hot.
GOP challenger Bruce Blakeman slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul Tuesday during their sole face-to-face debate ahead of the November election, tearing into the incumbent over sanctuary policies he said were putting New Yorkers in danger.
Hochul, a Democrat seeking her second complete four-year term, continually sought to tie her opponent to President Trump, bringing him up more than a dozen times during a feisty, hour-long showdown on television’s NY1.
The governor was seemingly put on her back foot throughout the debate, forced to defend the pro-migrant policies when the two were asked about an ICE-involved shooting that set off a firestorm in the city last week.
“What was the guy doing in the state in the first place?” Blakeman railed over Dominican Republiuc native and alleged Trinitarious gang member Oscar Belgal, who was shot by ICE agents in Manhattan as he tried to flee an arrest in a car.
“He’s a gangbanger,” Blakeman added. “You have invited criminals to come into our state and prey on our or our communities.”
Hochul fired back, defending her policies – which limit state law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration officials – saying the local police can still work with the feds on nearly 200 crimes.
“He’d be fine if ICE agents didn’t shoot into cars, shoot guns into vehicles, not knowing who’s inside and could have killed a 5-year-old child,” Hochul said.
“If that doesn’t shock the conscience of everybody, it should shock his conscience as well.”
The sitting gov trying to tie Blakeman to the president was a common refrain during the NY1 debate in Chelsea Market Tuesday evening.
Spectrum political anchors Errol Louis and Susan Arbetter had their jobs cut out for them as the two lawmakers time and again spoke over one another and interrupted the other’s responses to the moderators.
But the haymaker of the evening during impassioned debate came from Blakeman when he dragged the governor over her handling of the Cornell University gang rape case.
Here’s the latest on the Bronx ICE shooting:
- NYC illegal migrant thug shot by ICE still has bullet lodged in neck, can’t eat, lawyers say: ‘Unimaginable nightmare’
- Israel-hating trolls attack NYPD commissioner online after ICE shooting in NYC
- Mamdani threatens to probe ICE after NYC ‘illegal migrant’ shooting — as he compares agency to terrorists
- NYC DSA darling Darializa Avila Chevalier claims it ‘doesn’t even matter’ that gangbanger shot by ICE has violent criminal record
The Republican candidate took Hochul to task, accusing her of failing to act when the local district attorney dropped the ball years ago while she served as a trustee at the school.
“Where were you?” he questioned. “You were the governor of the state. As a partner of the state of New York and as a trustee and as governor, you didn’t call for an independent investigation when you found out that the district attorney was dropping the case.
“Shame on you,” he added.
Hochul, though continued to lean on the anti-Trump defense tactic more than a dozen times, blaming the president for energy costs, immigration policies, data centers and the state’s relationship with Canada during the hour-long segment.
She repeatedly tried to paint Blakeman as a Trump superfan who refused to disagree with his long-term pal in the White House.
But the candidate, who serves as Nassau County executive, shot back – distancing himself somewhat by saying he is pro-choice and supports a pathway to citizenship program for illegal migrants paying taxes in the US.
At one point, the president was name-dropped so many times, Blakeman finally blurted out — “That’s all you can talk about.”
He accused Hochul of trying to divert attention from her failing policies on stopping crimes committed by illegal immigrants and crime, and reining in New York’s high taxes and spending and utility costs.
“Everything has happened under your friend Donald Trump.. It’s absurd how adoring you are of him… Oh my gosh,” Hochul crowed. “What he has done is raise gasoline prices and energy prices, and the cost of tariffs has driven up everything in the state.”
Blakeman pointed to another Democratic govenor, Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, who he praised for driving down utility costs by tapping into natural gas through fracking.
“I will cut your utility bills in half, just like they did in Pennsylvania,” he said, offering up his blueprint to fulfill that campaign promise.
Both Hochul and Blakeman found common ground on the reopening of Indian Point to bring more nuclear power to the Empire State.
Notably absent from much of the debate was Hochul ally Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Blakeman and other GOP candidates have been using the young socialist and his comrades to drum up support from independents who are uneasy with the far-left mayor’s policies and Hochul’s close relationship.
Trump’s recent embrace of Mamdani, who remains much more popular than both pols on stage, appears to have torpedoed the debate tactic from Blakeman.
He did, however, offer up some choice words for Hizzoner when he was mentioned near the end of the political match.
“Look, if you want to campaign with him, that’s fine,” Blakeman said, adding, “But I will tell you right now, I think Zohran Mamdani is an antisemite.”
Blakeman needs a spark to close the 9-to-11-point gap in recent polls as Democrats hold a marked registration advantage in deeply blue New York.
Republican Lee Zeldin came close in 2022, losing to Hochul by just six points, marking the best GOP performance statewide in two decades.
Hochul remains highly unpopular in polls, but Blakeman still faces an uphill battle to unseat the incumbent, who first took office in 2021 when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned.
Election Day is Nov. 3.
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