Cuomo offers radio debate; Molinaro says no
After weeks of balking at requests to debate his opponents, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo agreed Friday to face off against his Republican challenger, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro.
Molinaro immediately rejected the proposal as a political stunt by Cuomo, saying any debate featuring the candidates in the race for governor should be televised statewide.
Molinaro and three minor-party candidates have spent weeks calling on Cuomo to agree to a debate before the Nov. 6 election.
Cuomo was being interviewed Friday on WCBS radio when the host asked if he would participate in an on-air debate at 8 a.m. Saturday. Cuomo agreed, but said he would need to cancel a planned visit to one of his college-aged daughters.
“You want to call me tomorrow, I will be here,” Cuomo said. “If you want to do it with Mr. Molinaro, I will be here.”
Molinaro called the offer “a fraud,” noting most New Yorkers would be unable to listen to an early morning weekend debate held on a local radio station. He accused Cuomo of trying to dictate terms “as if he’s the Sheriff of Nottingham.”
“We are not going to be props in some sort of theater production,” he told reporters. “Let’s find the right place, let’s sit down and have a substantive conversation.”
Cuomo said Friday that he doesn’t see much value in debating Molinaro, who he said has not run a “substantive” campaign.
Polls show Cuomo is far ahead of Molinaro and the other three candidates on the ballot — Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins, independent ex-Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner and Libertarian Larry Sharpe.