Candidates slam COVID mandates, rip Hochul & each other in 2nd debate
The second TV debate in New York’s Republican primary race for governor began with COVID comity and ended in acrimony Monday as candidates took swings at Gov. Hochul and each other with early voting underway.
In a burst of bitterness between two of the leading candidates, Harry Wilson and Rep. Lee Zeldin lobbed insults and questioned each other’s character as the 90-minute debate drew to a close.
“They should issue a restraining order against Lee Zeldin to not go within 50 miles of Albany, so he doesn’t hurt American and New York families any more than he already has,” said Wilson, a relatively moderate businessman.
Zeldin, a Trump-supporting Long Island lawyer, fired back: “You’re in the wrong party! You’re on the wrong stage.” At one point, he called Wilson a “fraud.” Both men called each other liars.
The sometimes unintelligible shouting match between the rivals carried whiffs of the first TV debate, broadcast by WCBS-TV/ Channel 2 last week.
But the second showdown, held by NY1, was often far more civil and policy-focused. It began with candidates taking turns whacking pandemic health precautions like pinatas, declaring in fiery blasts their opposition to mandated masking and vaccination.
Andrew Giuliani, wearing a Stars and Stripes tie as he beamed into the debate remotely due to his stated aversion to getting vaccinated, went so far as to liken inoculations for children to “child abuse.”
“We need to have far more data than we actually have at this point before we can recommend this,” claimed Giuliani, son of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Other candidates were less bullish on bashing the federal government’s authorization of vaccines for children as young as 6 months old, but still seemed to relish attacking mandates and broader public health guidance.
Zeldin, who has led opinion polls of the race, said Hochul, the incumbent Democrat, believes New Yorkers “want to be ruled by an emperor governor.”
Hochul instituted a controversial statewide mask mandate for indoor businesses during the winter omicron COVID wave and maintained a mask mandate for schools until March.
“They want this forever-pandemic mentality,” Zeldin said of Democrats.
“We shouldn’t have had toddlers forced to be masked up in school,” Zeldin asserted, maintaining that Hochul had called on New Yorkers “to be her apostle,” and that New Yorkers “don’t care about the lifestyle” of infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci.
Rob Astorino, the party’s 2014 nominee for governor and the one-time Westchester county executive, said New York is “no longer in a pandemic” as he urged the state to “stop acting like we are.”
The World Health Organization still characterizes the health crisis as a pandemic, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends shots for all eligible Americans.
The candidates also burnished tough positions on public safety, hammering New York’s 2019 bail reform law and espousing an end to the state’s cashless bail system.
They touted various plans to cut taxes, describing New York as a state in crisis. And they ripped Hochul’s leadership from various directions.
But the conversation took a more combative turn as the debate raged on, and insults started flying when candidates were given the chance to ask each other questions.
“I know you feel like you’re entitled to become governor of New York — it’s a birthright,” Zeldin said sarcastically as Giuliani grilled him about his positions on former President Donald Trump.
Both candidates have expressed admiration for Trump, who has not endorsed a candidate in the race.
Wilson accused Zeldin of “failing to lead” during his time in the state Senate. And Zeldin accused Wilson of packing his campaign advertisements with falsehoods.
The winner of the race is expected to serve as the underdog in the general election for governor; Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state by more than 2 to 1.
Zeldin has been seen as the favorite in the campaign due to his polling lead and support from the state Republican Party. But the outcome of the primary seems far more uncertain than the Democratic primary, in which Hochul holds a commanding advantage in surveys.