New York Gov. Kathy Hochul now says she will be “leading the resistance” against President Donald Trump, just weeks after telling reporters the opposite.
Hochul said she would “fight back hard” during an interview with NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Monday when asked about New York City’s congestion pricing toll that the Trump administration moved to block last month.
“We offered up an olive branch, [we said] ‘We’ll work with you on infrastructure. Let’s redo Penn Station,'” Hochul said. “Those areas were common ground. But once you draw first blood on us, we’re coming back hard. And I will be leading the resistance on policies like these where you’re hurting New Yorkers directly. This is our decision, not yours.”
Less than two weeks ago, however, the Democratic governor told reporters just the opposite.
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Hochul said she will lead the “resistance” against the Trump administration’s agenda during an interview on Monday. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
“I’ve been asked countless [times] ‘are you leading the resistance?’ – No, I’m governing the great state of New York,” Hochul said when asked about her stance toward the Trump administration, according to the New York Post.
The Trump administration last month ordered a stop to the controversial congestion toll program in New York City. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
The Trump administration last month ordered a stop to the controversial congestion toll program, which launched Jan. 5 with the goals of thinning traffic and funding mass transit by imposing a $9 toll on most vehicles entering Manhattan’s core south of Central Park.
Later that month, Hochul met with Trump at the White House for a one-on-one meeting, in which the governor made a case for the program. But Hochul later said the meeting likely did not persuade Trump to change his mind about the program.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been outspoken about her thoughts on the controversial tolling program. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
On Monday, Hochul also said that it’s up to Democratic governors to be the “firewall” against the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress who threaten to slash federally funded social programs.
Hochul said that Democratic governors must heed the call “to stand up against this destruction of policies that are helping people and have been in place for decades.”
