Despite opponent Bruce Blakeman's constant attacks, Gov. Kathy Hochul opts not to directly engage
With the election just about two weeks away, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is continuing her strategy of not directly engaging with opponent Bruce Blakeman.
The Nassau County executive is taking a different tactic, criticizing the governor whenever he can.
Hochul took the stage Monday at an event to herald an expansion of a free 2-K program in New York City made possible by her largess and hugged Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
However, with the election countdown clock ticking away and her ahead in seemingly every poll, she never uttered Blakeman's name. She came as the governor to talk about her free universal childcare program and decided not take off-topic questions.
"I've been laser-focused on making sure that our children have every advantage possible to them and that we finally take a heavy burden off our parents," Hochul said.
Blakeman slammed the program as a giveaway.
"To just give everybody money, I think that's the wrong thing. We shoudn't give people money who stay home and don't take care of their kids," he said.
Hochul's policy of ignoring Blakemen left Mamdani to act as her attack dog.
"[Blakeman] looks at a program like universal childcare and says that it's a reward for lazy parents who are going to sit at home and watch the view. That's the idea, that parents are lazy. I do not even know how you can come to justify that," Mamdani said.
Blakeman rode the subway on Monday, and, following the weekend fatal shooting inside a station in Manhattan, took Hochul to task on subway crime.
"I think that there are a lot of material things we can do to make it safer here in New York and make public transportation safer. Kathy Hochul doesn't care. She hasn't tried. She's pro-criminal," Blakeman said.
CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer asked the governor about the hot-button topic of tax hikes, saying City Council Speaker Julie Menin has said she would support one to pay for future years of universal free childcare expansion.
"I get opinions on our state budget from 20 million people. Everybody's entitled to their opinion," Hochul said. "I know what I have to do as the governor, who will be working on my budget through the fall, and will be announcing what we're planning the next years. But we've already spent $12 billion on childcare already without raising taxes. I'm proud of that."