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While some politicians change their tune, one candidate delivered a pitch-perfect answer to a question about his favorite song while his New York gubernatorial rivals were dismissed as “cowards” for refusing to sing.
Jumaane Williams, New York City’s public advocate who is challenging incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Tom Suozzi for the Democratic nod ahead of the state’s gubernatorial election in November, not only identified “Pretty Wings” by Maxwell as his go-to karaoke song but also sang a few bars from the debate stage at CBS’s broadcast studio in midtown Manhattan. His rivals were denounced as “cowards” by a debate moderator for their refusal to perform.
“Pretty wings, your pretty wings,” Williams crowed Tuesday evening, earning a “wow” from one of the debate moderators.
Hochul and Suozzi identified “Sweet Caroline” and “Beyond the Sea” as their go-to songs, respectively.
HOCHUL APPROVES GUN CONTROL BILL REGULATING SEMI-AUTOMATIC RIFLES
Though Suozzi refused to belt out his karaoke number from the debate stage, he was quick to point out the number of corrupt politicians singing when faced with allegations of wrongdoing.
“We need to kick them out of office,” he said, noting the last three governors, as well as Hochul’s former running mate, former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, resigned amid scandal.
Multiple references were made to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose August 2021 resignation paved the way for Hochul’s ascent to the governorship. Williams, who is mounting a left-wing primary challenge, slammed Hochul for Cuomo-like press conferences in which she signed a flurry of bills amid an uptick in crime in New York City.
“It reminded me of the Cuomo press conferences during the pandemic, and I’ll tell you why. It was in the middle of the Bronx that has some of the highest shootings that we’ve seen,” he said, later adding the bills she signed “primarily deal with mass shootings. And we have told the Bronx that we’ve dealt with the street crime that they are dealing with every single day.”
Suozzi, a centrist, also attacked Hochul’s record on crime.
“There’s a crime crisis and a gun crisis here in New York, and people are suffering every single day,” he said. “The governor talks about making crime and guns a priority, but 69% of New Yorkers say that she’s failing on crime. She talks about crime, but she didn’t address the issue of bail reform. … I will fight crime as my No. 1 priority.”
Hochul countered that “no governor has done more in less time than [she has] to address gun violence.”
“We have to change the hearts and minds of people all over this country so we can finally have commonsense legislation from Washington,” she added.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
There were 298 shooting incidents resulting in injury in New York year to date as of May, a 3.6% decrease from the same time period in 2021, according to the state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services. However, there was a 12.7% increase in people killed by gun violence when comparing those time periods, the data show. In New York City, the number of year-to-date criminal complaints rose from 7,548 on June 5, 2021, to 9,537 on Sunday, a 26.35% increase, according to the New York City Police Department.
The second and final debate will take place June 16, and the primary election will be held June 28.
