Metro

State GOP assemblyman calls Cuomo’s pushing of gun control bill ‘dictatorial,’ says Hitler ‘would be proud’

ALBANY – Hitler and Mussolini would be “proud” of the way Gov. Cuomo jammed his gun control bill through the legislature last month, a Republican assemblyman from upstate charged today.

Steve McLaughlin’s comment drew an immediate rebuke from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) – an Orthodox Jew.

At a press conference pushing a measure aimed at ending abuse of a technique to force quick votes on legislation, McLaughlin complained about Cuomo’s use of a “message of necessity” on the gun bill – allowing an immediate vote, rather than subjecting the bill to the normal three-day “aging” process for public review.

“We’re told basically to shut up and vote. Just don’t question it, just vote,” said McLaughlin, who represents rural and suburban areas near Albany. “Hitler would be proud, Mussolini would be proud of what we did here, Moscow would be proud. That’s not democracy.”

Asked if he thought comparing Cuomo to the dictators was appropriate, McLaughlin replied, “I just said it.

“I’m not calling the governor a dictator; I’m saying this was a dictatorial thing to do.”

The distinction didn’t satisfy Silver’s office.

“That comparison is highly offensive and beneath a member of the state legislature,” said spokesman Michael Whyland. “It is completely inappropriate and doesn’t belong in our public discourse. On the substance, the constitution allows for messages of necessity and the legislature and governor agree to them as appropriate.”

Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos also called McLaughlin’s comments inappropriate.

There was no immediate comment from Cuomo’s office.

McLaughlin apologized a few hours later in a video statement.

“Sometimes in the heat of the moment you say things you regret, and that’s what happened today,” he said. “I made an analogy that I should not have made, and I’m very, very sorry about that. I’ve called the governor to apologize. He did not deserve that.”

McLaughlin and three fellow Republicans noted Cuomo also used messages of necessity last year to push through bills on redistricting, casino gambling, DNA database expansion, pension reform and teacher evaluations.

McLaughlin, Assemblymen Jim Tedisco and Tony Jordan of the Capital Region and Sen. Greg Ball of Putnam County are plugging a proposed constitutional amendment to limit messages of necessity to genuine emergencies such as security threats, natural disasters and fiscal crises – and require two-thirds majority votes to agree to the maneuver – and to stop the clock on all legislative proceedings between midnight and 8 a.m.

The chairman of the board of Agudath Israel of America called McLaughlin’s comments “absolutely unforgiveable.

“It is amazing to me that anyone in elected office would possibly talk about anyone else and compare them to Hitler and Mussalini,” said Rabbi Gedaliah Weinberger, a child of holocaust survivors who was in Albany to lobby for Jewish issues.

“To add insult to injury, he (McLaughlin) did this about a bill we very much support,” Weinberger added. “I would think that he should be thrown out. His own constituents should recall him. There’s no way anybody should ever vote for somebody like this again.”