Joe Lhota fought back Tuesday against Bill de Blasio’s attempt to brand him as a right-wing extremist, declaring, “If I’m tied to the Tea Party, so is Andrew Cuomo.”
Lhota came out swinging after de Blasio launched a Tumblr page portraying the Republican as a Tea Party sympathizer. Last week, de Blasio also ripped Lhota for taking donations from “right-wing billionaires” David and Charles Koch.
Lhota pointed out Tuesday that he received a donation only from David Koch, who also gave more than $80,000 to a Cuomo political-action committee.
“What you need to look at is who David Koch is. He, like I, believes in a women’s right to choose. He, like I, believes in marriage equality,” Lhota said in a full-scale counterattack.
The governor, who nominated Lhota to run the MTA and worked closely with him during Hurricane Sandy, declined to comment about Koch’s donation.
Lhota distanced himself from the Tea Party as “extremist” and a “bad force for the Republican Party.”
He said he agreed with “major parts” of ObamaCare and said shutting down the government to try to undo it was “flat wrong.”
“Anybody who wants to tag me with what’s going on in Washington is going to be making a very, very big mistake,” Lhota added.
De Blasio — who’s been on the receiving end of Lhota’s attacks for his trips to repressive regimes in Cuba and Nicaragua — tried to turn the tables this week by hurling back the “extremist” charge.
The Democratic candidate seized on a report that Lhota was inspired in his youth by conservative Republican Barry Goldwater and, in another move to link him to the party’s right wing, took note of a speech he gave to a Tea Party group on Staten Island.