Metro

Gov. Cuomo to conservatives: Leave NY!

Gov. Cuomo has a message for conservative Republicans — you don’t belong in New York.

Cuomo said Friday that members of the GOP with “extreme” views are creating an identity crisis for their party and represent a bigger worry than Democrats such as himself.
“Their problem isn’t me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves,” the governor said on Albany’s The Capitol Pressroom radio show.

“Who are they? Right to life, pro-assault weapons, anti-gay — if that’s who they are, they have no place in the state of New York because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”

He added that moderate Republicans, such as those in the state Senate, “have a place in their state.”

Cuomo hammered Republican activists whose views he said were out of step with the majority of New Yorkers and said the party has to back moderates to have any hope of winning seats in this fall’s elections.

“You have a schism within the Republican Party,” Cuomo observed. “They’re searching to define their soul. That’s what’s going on . . . It’s a mirror of what’s going on in Washington.”

On another front, Cuomo declined to give his unqualified support to State Education Commissioner John King, citing concerns over the controversial Common Core curriculum.

“I don’t know that anyone has my 100 percent support, some family members included,” Cuomo said flatly. “I think John King has done a good job, by and large. I think there are some real questions about Common Core.”

When pressed about his “tepid support” of the education chief, Cuomo quickly added, “I think he has done a good job. I support the job he’s done.”