New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Tuesday hit back at President Trump, saying the president “is afraid of the NRA” one day after Trump said the National Rifle Association was “under siege” by Cuomo and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D).
“The president of the United States, for all his bluster, is afraid of the NRA. It is that simple. We know it’s that simple. The NRA has been a strong political force for many, many years. They’re threatening. They have money. They mobilize people,” Cuomo said on CNN’s “New Day.”
{mosads}Cuomo added that Trump “came close to doing the right thing on this issue of guns” following the deadly 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., when he floated gun control proposals.
“What happened? 24 hours later, the NRA showed up. They had a conversation with the president. He did a 180-degree turn,” Cuomo added.
Trump in a tweet Monday accused Cuomo and James of “illegally using the State’s legal apparatus” to destroy the NRA.
James’s office last week launched an investigation into the NRA’s tax-exempt status, issuing subpoenas to the gun rights group as well as to its affiliate entities and related businesses.
Cuomo on Tuesday called Trump’s accusations “garbage.”
“The attorney general is independently elected, and she is elected in this state to enforce the law. The NRA is originally chartered in this state. It’s a not-for-profit organization. So she has jurisdiction and she believes there may have been illegal activity. So she is pursuing that case. The president’s accusation that it’s politically motivated is all garbage. We don’t do that in New York state,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo added that it’s “telling” Trump would suspect that New York is using the “criminal justice apparatus for politics.”
“That’s his thinking,” Cuomo said. “That’s his mindset. It’s not how we operate in the New York state.”