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Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that he was the reason President Donald Trump never sent the National Guard to New York City amid the violent George Floyd riots of 2020.
Cuomo’s comments came during the second of two Democrat primary debates for New York City mayor after he was asked how he would handle the current situation around the anti-ICE protests and the president’s decision to involve military personnel.
“President Trump did this, and Trump won. He did it a number of times. He sent troops into cities all across the country. This is him being macho, authoritarianism; he’s the commander in chief,” Cuomo responded. “He never sent them into New York because I said to him, ‘You better never send troops into New York. We don’t need them. It would be a hostile act. It would be a problem.'”
CUOMO LINKS LA VIOLENCE TO TRUMP AS HE COURTS NYC VOTERS AHEAD OF PRIMARY
Trump ordered thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to go into Los Angeles over the weekend and help quell the unrest and assist federal immigration authorities in their efforts to deport illegal immigrants. During the similarly violent 2020 George Floyd riots, Trump directed federal troops to Washington, D.C. and Portland, Oregon, in an effort to end the destruction, danger and chaos.
New York City saw some of the greatest violence during the Floyd riots, but Trump never deployed any federal agents there, as Cuomo noted during the debate.
TRUMP SENDS CLEAR MESSAGE FEDERALIZING NATIONAL GUARD FOR LA RIOTS: THIS IS NOT 2020
New York City, similar to Los Angeles, is a self-proclaimed “sanctuary city” that protects illegal immigrants from deportation or prosecution by federal authorities.
During Thursday night’s debate, Cuomo said he, too, would defend New York City’s sanctuary city laws as mayor.
“Right now, in this situation, we’re going to protect our immigrants. This is a sanctuary city, and we are going to defend the laws of the sanctuary city,” Cuomo said. “We have an NYPD that is the largest police force in the United States of America. Donald Trump only picks fights that he can win. He cannot win a fight with me as mayor of New York.”
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