Transcript: Governor Cuomo Delivers GOTV Remarks at Union Rally
Cuomo Joined By Rich Maroko, President of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and Manny Pastreich, President of 32BJ
New York says: we are all immigrants. We are proud of being immigrants, and we celebrate our diversity. We are great in our diversity. We are unified in our diversity. We are stronger because of our diversity. And we have each other's backs—and we always will. If you come after me, you come after everyone. That's who we are.
- Governor Andrew Cuomo
Video of Remarks Here
Photos of Event Here
Governor Cuomo, candidate for Mayor of New York City, was joined by over 500 hundred men and women at the GOTV rally. Cuomo emphasized the need for the Democratic Party to reconnect with its roots and deliver real results for working men and women in New York City. He pledged to launch the largest affordable housing initiative in the city’s history, built by union labor—and to raise the minimum wage, invest in public safety, and address homelessness. Urging voters to head to the polls, Cuomo reminded them that now more than ever, New York needs a leader who can forge unity and fight back against President Trump’s divisive agenda.
A transcript of remarks below:
You are a good-looking group. First, to Rich Maroko and HTC, let’s give them a round of applause. Manny Pastreich, 32BJ, thank you. I know we have carpenters in the house.
Guys, as you heard from Rich and from Manny, this election matters because we are all New Yorkers and we're out there, and we know that New York City’s in trouble. Yes, you can feel it when you walk down the street. You can feel it when you walk into the subways. You feel the anxiety—you see it on people's faces. We lost 500,000 people since COVID. 500,000 people left New York City.
So we have to turn New York City around, and we have to turn it around in this election—and we will.
Now, a Democratic primary is also an opportunity for the Democratic Party to look into the mirror and take honest stock of where we are as Democrats and what we have done as Democrats. We just went through a national election, and this is what I believe. I don't believe Donald Trump won that election. No, I don't believe anybody got up in the morning and said, Boy, I love that guy. I love that haircut. We all have to get out and vote for that guy. I believe what they said was, I'm disappointed in the Democratic Party. And you see it here in New York. 400,000—400,000 fewer Democrats came out to vote in the election. 400,000. Why? Why? Because the Democratic Party lost its identity—lost its connection to who it really is. The Democratic Party lost its soul, because you are the soul of the Democratic Party.
The working men and women of New York were always the base of the Democratic Party. And the Democratic Party was not talking to you and the issues that mattered to you at your kitchen table. They weren't talking to you about the price of groceries, and how you can't pay your rent, and the cost of education. They were disconnected from your issues.
And the second thing the Democratic Party forgot was that government is actually supposed to deliver for people. Government is not about yapping, you know? It’s not about talking. It's about doing something. It's about achieving results. Do something for me. Help me in my life. Make a difference in my life. That's what the Democratic Party is all about. And we lost that.
But we're going to get back to it—and we're going to get back to it in New York—and we're gonna get back to it now. Because we know what we have to do. We know we have an affordability crisis. And in the first 30 days, we're gonna launch the largest initiative in this city's history to build affordable housing. We know how to do it. We know how to build. If you wonder if we know how to build, go look at LaGuardia Airport, the new JFK Airport, go look at the Second Avenue, go look at Moynihan Train Station, go look at the Kosciuszko Bridge. We know how to build—and we will build affordable housing.
We understand the pain and the pressure that the working women and men are under in this city. And we are going to do what we did before, but which is long overdue. We're gonna raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour. We raised it to $15 an hour, which was the highest in the United States of America and showed the country the way—and now we’re going to come back and raise it to $20.
We’re going to get the homeless, mentally ill off the subway and the streets. And we are going to reverse the insanity that said, we are going to defund the police. And now, the insanity that says we're gonna dismantle the police. No—we're gonna hire 5,000 new police officers.
And there is one other thing—we are gonna stop Mr. Trump and his crusade and what he's trying to do. Let me tell you something about Mr. Trump: he made all those promises during the campaign, right? All of those promises about how he was gonna help the middle class and help the working families of New York. All those promises. Remember?
Well, now he put forth his budget. He put forth his bills. And you know what he's doing? He's stepping on the working families of this country to give the rich a tax break.
And he says he's coming after immigrants.
That is all just politics. He's coming after immigrants in Democratic cities—it’s just a political ploy. And you know what he's trying to tell this nation when he says, I'm coming after immigrants? He is trying to divide us as Americans. That’s what he's trying to do.
Today, he's coming after the immigrants. Remember when we had COVID? It was the "China flu." China flu. And he generated all that anger against Asians. He believes in divide and conquer. That’s how he wins. Divide and conquer—one of the oldest strategies in the book. But he's in the wrong place if he thinks he's coming to New York.
Because New York is the exact opposite. New York says: we are all immigrants. We are proud of being immigrants, and we celebrate our diversity. We are great in our diversity. We are unified in our diversity. We are stronger because of our diversity. And we have each other's backs—and we always will. If you come after me, you come after everyone.
That's who we are.
And the next time you see the President on TV in the Oval Office, I want you to look at the flag that's behind him. There's a flag that is right behind the president in the Oval Office. And what the flag says are three words in Latin: E Pluribus Unum. E Pluribus Unum. That is the motto of this nation. And what it means is: Out of many, one.
Out of many, one. We invite people from all across the globe. And we say, You come. Doesn't matter your race, your religion, how much money you have in your pocket—you come. Let the many come. And we forge one community. That immigration mass—that’s who we are. That’s the American way. That’s what New York State represents. That’s what New York will show. That’s what we need to accomplish on Election Day.
We have to take back this Democratic Party.
Thank you, and God bless.
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