I will Nix the ‘bully’ in Albany
ALBANY — Cynthia Nixon on Friday said she decided to challenge Gov. Cuomo in the Democratic primary because “bullies have to be confronted.”
In an interview with Glamour magazine, Nixon says many Democrats were afraid to run against the well-funded two-term governor.
“The blunt truth is that Andrew Cuomo has a (nearly) $31 million war chest, and he is famously vengeful,” Nixon said. “It is almost impossible for anybody who is in Democratic politics to run against him.… I think somebody who is supposed to have the public interest, but rules through fear, is exactly the person you have to go up against. Bullies have to be confronted.”
The “famously vengeful” phrase was close to her good friend Mayor de Blasio’s one-time comment that Cuomo governed by “vendetta.”
Cuomo laughed off the comment when asked about it on NY1 Friday afternoon by saying he doesn’t read Glamour magazine and has never met Nixon.
“Everybody can say what they want,” he said. “We’re going to have a political season and people choose their own style in life. I have no comment on it.”
Cuomo was also asked which character on Nixon's “Sex and the City” show was his favorite. “I don’t have a favorite,” he said. “I don’t want to pick favorites.”
Cuomo wouldn’t commit to debating Nixon, saying that decision will be made later in the campaign.
Earlier in the day, as Nixon hit him over what she says is inequitable school funding, Cuomo argued the issue isn’t how much the state spends, but how districts use it.
Cuomo told WNYC the state spends the most in the country on school funding and twice the national average per pupil.
“We spend more than anyone else, how much more do you want to spend?” Cuomo asked.