New York Governor Kathy Hochul has come under fire after a botched attempt to criticize Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at a billing signing linked to Holocaust education in New York Schools on Wednesday.
“I just want to say to the 1.77 (million) Jews that call New York home. Thank you for calling NY home. Don’t go anywhere or else there is no better state. Florida’s overrated,” said Hochul.
“I shouldn’t say this, but look at the governor. It started at the top down. “I should stay on script,” said Hochul.
Former New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D) agrees, that she should have stayed on script. On Friday, Hikind appeared on Fox and Friends and lit into Hochul.
“I think it was absolutely pathetic. The governor of New York needs to be defeated. You’re doing a Holocaust event, your own event, and you’re busy attacking the governor of Florida, who is probably one of the best friends of the Jewish people in this great country,” said Hikind.
“How many people are leaving Florida to come to New York? Hardly anyone but the opposite, tens and tens of thousands of New Yorkers are leaving New York because things are out of control in this city, in this state,” Hikind said. “Crime is out of control. Antisemitism is at levels never seen before. At this event, she talks about never forgetting. She’s busy attacking the governor of Florida, who has done an amazing job while she has failed? … She owes everyone an apology. This is not the kind of behavior we expect from a leader of our state.”
No governor – and few U.S. politicians generally – have been as supportive of Jewish causes as DeSantis, as The Free Press has reported in recent months.
One of DeSantis’ first acts as governor in 2019 was to take the Florida Cabinet to Israel for a ceremonial meeting. The purpose of the event was to further cement the relationship between Jerusalem and Tallahassee and to strengthen cultural and economic ties between the two partners.
Last year, DeSantis added $12 million to the state budget to benefit Jewish groups, including $4 million for added security at Jewish schools.
DeSantis was a guest speaker at an event hosted by the Jewish Federations of Florida, a sponsor of which was the Florida Anti-Defamation League.
In his comments, DeSantis said, “We are going to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters and we are absolutely going to stand strong in support of the Florida-Israel relationship. The Legislature and I have worked really hard on a lot of great legislation over the past few years on issues including Holocaust education, anti-BDS legislation, security for synagogues and Jewish day schools, and so much more.”
Last July, the Florida Department of Education for the first time set new standards for the required teaching of the Holocaust in public schools. The governor noted, “We want to make sure our students understand the evils of the Holocaust. You see people throughout the world try to diminish or even reject that the Holocaust even happened.”
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Also a year ago, when the founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream launched into a pro-Palestinian tirade and announced they would stop selling their products in Israel, DeSantis responded by putting the frozen treat-maker and its parent company, Unilever, on a watch list. The move signaled both companies that Florida would divest itself of holdings in them and stop buying their stock.
This month, Unilever said it would sell Ben & Jerry’s in Israel over the objections of its subsidiary. DeSantis called that a “step in the right direction,” but added Unilever is not yet out of the doghouse.
And in June, the governor addressed the Jewish Leadership Conference in New York City, which had to be relocated because liberals complained about him speaking at the Museum of Jewish Heritage because of his opposition to the LGBTQ agenda being forced onto the state’s youngest schoolchildren.
Left-wing Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib have been openly, frequently, and casually anti-Semitic in their comments, especially criticizing America’s support for Israel.
All three have supported the radical Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction initiative, which seeks to punish Israel economically as a show of support for Palestinians.
When Congress actually sought to take action against Omar for her bias, the Democratic leadership watered down the resolution condemning her and actually made it about “white supremacy.
But it’s not just the Squad. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia has likened Israel to the former white apartheid government that ran South Africa.
Meanwhile, several prominent Democrats, including Warnock as well as Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Jim Clyburn (D-SC), and Al Green (D-TX), have been cozy with Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the rabidly anti-Semitic Nation of Islam. The Anti-Defamation League has dubbed Farrakhan “America’s leading anti-Semite.”
But perhaps voters should make the yardstick used to measure anti-Semitism and who is actively working to promote and protect Jews and the state of Israel, and who is actually trying to hurt them.
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