New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats, criticized President Trump on Wednesday for politicizing the New York City terrorist attack, and for failing to unite Americans as commander in chief.
“The president’s tweets, I think, were not helpful. I don’t think they were factual. I think they tended to point fingers and politicize the situation. He was referring back to an immigration policy that dealt with a lottery and blaming people who passed that immigration policy,” Cuomo said during a press conference Wednesday. “His tweet wasn’t even accurate as far as I’m concerned. It was a bipartisan law that was passed that had basically no relevance to the facts of this situation.”
“As I said before, you play into the hands of the terrorists to the extent you disrupt and divide and frighten people in this society. And the tone now should be the exact opposite by all officials on all levels. This is about unification. This is about solidarity, normalization, and protection. The last thing it’s about is politics, period,” Cuomo added.
De Blasio agreed with Cuomo and said New York law enforcement officers will continue to respect Muslim New Yorkers as they cope with Tuesday’s terrorist attack. Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old immigrant from Uzbekistan, reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he attacked people with a rented van and then a pellet gun and a paintball gun.
“We support very thorough vetting, not of groups of people just because they belong to a group. I think this is a very crucial distinction. There should be very, very careful vetting of anyone where there is an indication of a concern, but not because of their religion or not because of their country of origin,” de Blasio said. “I want to affirm the governor’s point. This should be a unity moment where the focus should be on solving the crime and figuring out how we can move forward together, not the pointing of fingers.”
Trump on Wednesday accused Sen. Chuck Schumer and other Democrats of supporting an immigration system that allows people like the suspect in Tuesday’s terrorist attack in New York to enter the U.S., and said he would keep pushing to end the diversity visa program.
“The terrorist came into our country through what is called the ‘Diversity Visa Lottery Program,’ a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based,” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. “We are fighting hard for Merit Based immigration, no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter). @foxandfriends.”
