New York Governor Kathy Hochul Goes Off-Script by Attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at Holocaust Event

Governor Kathy Hochul looked like a bad Borscht-belt comedian while signing a bill related to Holocaust education in schools on Wednesday as she tried to prank the governor’s expense of Florida Ron DeSantis.

“I just want to say to the 1.77 million Jews who live in New York: thank you for calling New York home. Do not go anywhere or in another state. Florida is overrated. I shouldn’t say this, but look at the governor. It starts from the top down,” Hochul said.

« Getting in trouble – gotta stay on script, » the governor quickly added before being forced to abruptly cut to her presentation of Holocaust survivor Celia Cantor at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan.

The impromptu, out-of-left-field partisan attack on his Florida counterpart came as the governor spoke about the virtues of anti-hate initiatives which included signing legislation requiring the state’s education department to study the extent to which schools teach students about Nazism. genocide of six million Jews in Europe between approximately 1939 and 1945.

“The lessons of the Holocaust must be at the heart of our minds today, as we see hatred rising to the surface, unfettered in a way we have never seen before in my life,” said Hochul to reporters while citing statistics showing hundreds of anti-Semitic incidents have occurred in New York this year.

“After a breakup, some people cling to hopes of reconciliation. It’s sad to see governors acting like desperate exes. Perhaps they should spend more time relieving their people of oppressive taxes, useless mandates, closed businesses, and crime-infested cities. Florida’s freedom program works — they should try it,” DeSantis campaign spokesman Dave Abrams responded.

The Florida conservative has drawn the ire of Democrats in the Empire State by highlighting testimonies from former New Yorkers who moved to the Sunshine State in hopes of escaping high taxes and progressive policies inciting crime.

“Hochul’s flippant smugness aside, it’s no joke that the people of his state run away from whoever DeSantis leads. Who will have the last laugh? » Peter Warren, research director at the Empire Center for Public Policy, from right, tweeted.

An exodus of New Yorkers to Florida has helped slow New York’s population growth in recent years, leading to the loss of a U.S. House seat after the 2020 census.

Meanwhile, a May 2022 appearance at DeSantis’ museum, organized by advocacy group Tikvah, was canceled following protests over his conservative record as governor.

The museum denied at the time that DeSantis had actually been banned from the premises.

— Additional reporting by Selim Algar