New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) did not hold back in her response to Representative Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) on Friday after Stefanik continued her series of Islamophobic attacks against New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Stefanik, who is running for governor and aiming to challenge Hochul in the upcoming election, distanced herself from former President Donald Trump after he praised Mamdani during their Oval Office meeting, where Trump dismissed Stefanik’s “jihadist” label for the mayor-elect.
“We all want NYC to succeed. But we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one,” wrote Stefanik on X before launching into a repeated attack on Mamdani since his mayoral primary upset in June.
“If he walks like a jihadist, talks like a jihadist, campaigns like a jihadist, supports jihadists, he’s a jihadist. And he’s @KathyHochul’s jihadist.”
Hochul, who eventually endorsed Mamdani in September after months of hesitation, responded to Stefanik’s comments in a live interview on MS NOW.
“She’s full of it,” Hochul told host Chris Hayes before correcting herself. “I mean she really is.”
Hochul criticized Stefanik for taking such an extreme stance, even more extreme than Donald Trump. She emphasized that Stefanik has gone beyond Trump in pushing the MAGA agenda.
Hochul sarcastically remarked that she hopes Stefanik is proud of herself for spreading hateful ideas and attempting to incite more violent political rhetoric.
“I find it repulsive, it’s detestable, but that’s who she is and people are starting to see this, even the president realized that it’s too much for him,” Hochul added.
