Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Bruce Blakeman | Nassau County Executive Continues Run to Unseat Incumbent Kathy Hochul to Become NY's Next Governor
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: He's on his way to Syracuse today, the great Bruce Blakeman. Bruce,
- 0:03Speaker 1: good morning, buddy. How are you?
- 0:06Speaker 2: Good morning, Sid. We're doing great. Feeling great. Feeling like
- 0:09Speaker 2: a winner.
- 0:09Speaker 1: Feeling like a winner. So please tell me you're not
- 0:12Speaker 1: driving to Syracuse.
- 0:13Speaker 2: Are you? No, we're going to take a plane up
- 0:16Speaker 2: to Syracuse today. Good.
- 0:18Speaker 1: That's a very, very long trip. And you're going up
- 0:20Speaker 1: there today to do something that every governor has promised
- 0:24Speaker 1: to do, especially the last two louses, Kathy Hochul and
- 0:28Speaker 1: Andrew Cuomo, and that is to fix some of these
- 0:31Speaker 1: great towns. They've got colleges. Towns like Syracuse, my son's
- 0:35Speaker 1: applying there, and Binghamton. Yet, yet, they're a mess. Drug-addled, poverty-stricken, horrible. Rome, Utica, Buffalo, Rochester,
- 0:47Speaker 1: Syracuse today. All these governors promise to fix these places.
- 0:52Speaker 1: They do nothing about it. Something tells me you'll fix it.
- 0:57Speaker 2: Oh, definitely. Listen, when you travel upstate New York and
- 1:01Speaker 2: you go to Buffalo and Rochester and Syracuse and all
- 1:04Speaker 2: those cities and towns and villages in between, it is
- 1:08Speaker 2: some of the most beautiful country in the United States
- 1:11Speaker 2: of America. Many charming towns, great places. And the urban areas,
- 1:17Speaker 2: they have good bones. They've got good access, but their
- 1:21Speaker 2: infrastructure has been allowed to crumble. They're not investing money
- 1:26Speaker 2: in law enforcement. You've got drug-infested communities. You've got gang activity.
- 1:32Speaker 2: You've got homelessness. Those are things that I will not
- 1:36Speaker 2: tolerate as governor of New York. We are going to
- 1:39Speaker 2: clean up those urban areas, make them exciting again, make
- 1:43Speaker 2: them vibrant, create good jobs, create jobs with good benefits
- 1:47Speaker 2: so people have the health care they need. And we
- 1:50Speaker 2: are going to revitalize the whole state, not just upstate,
- 1:54Speaker 2: not just downstate, the whole state. So I love going
- 1:59Speaker 2: up there. The people are terrific. They're the salt of
- 2:03Speaker 2: the earth. And, you know, Sid, you know what Kathy
- 2:05Speaker 2: Hochul said about Upstaters, right? I do. She said they
- 2:08Speaker 2: weren't sophisticated enough to make important decisions. And she's from Upstate. Well,
- 2:16Speaker 2: there's one thing about the people Upstate that I've found.
- 2:19Speaker 2: They have common sense and good judgment, things that Kathy
- 2:23Speaker 2: Hochul are lacking.
- 2:25Speaker 1: 100%. She did say that. They're not sophisticated. She basically
- 2:29Speaker 1: called black people stupid. That's Kathy Hochul. Now, look, I
- 2:33Speaker 1: saw you with President Trump in Nassau County. Great rally
- 2:36Speaker 1: you guys put on a couple of weeks ago. Rumors
- 2:39Speaker 1: are that President Trump is going to come back to
- 2:41Speaker 1: Long Island before your election, but... Today, he's going to
- 2:45Speaker 1: be in Syracuse with you because even though he's on
- 2:48Speaker 1: a federal level, he, like you, Bruce Blakeman, is still
- 2:52Speaker 1: a New Yorker that cares about places like Syracuse.
- 2:57Speaker 2: Well, Donald Trump loves New York. He is a New Yorker,
- 3:02Speaker 2: and he likes to come back. But particularly, he said
- 3:06Speaker 2: he wanted to come to upstate New York because he
- 3:09Speaker 2: heard from me and how I talked about the fact
- 3:12Speaker 2: that Those big cities, those suburban areas, and those little
- 3:17Speaker 2: rural towns, they need some help. They need to be revitalized.
- 3:21Speaker 2: And he understands that. And he understands that you need
- 3:25Speaker 2: the whole state to be doing well. So he's coming upstate.
- 3:29Speaker 2: And it's always exciting when the president of the United
- 3:32Speaker 2: States comes to your community. I don't care if you're Republican, Democrat, Independent.
- 3:37Speaker 2: I don't care whether it's a Republican president or a
- 3:39Speaker 2: Democrat president. Come on. The Commander-in-Chief is coming to your community.
- 3:44Speaker 2: That's an exciting event.
- 3:46Speaker 1: All going to be huge. So I'm not sure if
- 3:48Speaker 1: you had a chance. You were up at dinner with
- 3:50Speaker 1: Bernadette and others last night. But Saritha, who loves you,
- 3:53Speaker 1: and I've seen Saritha at all your events. That's really
- 3:56Speaker 1: how I got to know her pretty well. She kicked
- 3:59Speaker 1: the crap out of Letitia James. Bruce, trust me. She
- 4:03Speaker 1: kicked her ass on New York One last night in
- 4:06Speaker 1: that one debate, okay? And every time... Letitia James couldn't
- 4:10Speaker 1: answer a question, what did she do? She brought up
- 4:13Speaker 1: President Trump. Now, what's funny is, Saritha is not even MAGA.
- 4:18Speaker 1: Not like you, not like me. She's not even MAGA.
- 4:21Speaker 1: But every time Letitia James couldn't answer a question, she
- 4:25Speaker 1: would just say Trump. Something tells me, coming up this
- 4:29Speaker 1: Tuesday night, in your New York One debate with Kathy Hochul,
- 4:34Speaker 1: she's going to do the same thing. Don't you think?
- 4:37Speaker 2: Well, I know she's going to do it because she
- 4:39Speaker 2: can't defend her record. How do you defend a record
- 4:42Speaker 2: whereby you have the highest taxed state in the United
- 4:46Speaker 2: States of America? That's a badge of shame. She's the
- 4:50Speaker 2: biggest pickpocket in America. She's got her hands in our pockets,
- 4:55Speaker 2: taking our money each and every day. How do you
- 4:58Speaker 2: defend the fact that you approved 48 utility rate hikes?
- 5:03Speaker 2: That's averaging one a month. and that our utility bills
- 5:08Speaker 2: are 70% higher than the national average. How do you
- 5:11Speaker 2: defend the fact that you are not supporting local law enforcement,
- 5:16Speaker 2: that criminality has increased, that you can't walk into a
- 5:20Speaker 2: CVS or a Walgreens and buy a bottle of shampoo
- 5:24Speaker 2: without having to ring a buzzer and get a store
- 5:27Speaker 2: clerk to come and unlock a glass door so you
- 5:30Speaker 2: can buy the shampoo? How do you defend that record? So,
- 5:34Speaker 2: of course, she's going to want to talk about other things.
- 5:37Speaker 1: And, you know, we just commemorated October the 7th. And, Bruce,
- 5:40Speaker 1: you were great. All your comments. Hochul gave us nothing. Yeah,
- 5:46Speaker 1: she was a little critical, I guess. But not really,
- 5:49Speaker 1: because she never mentioned his name of Mamdani's statements. But
- 5:52Speaker 1: I say this to everybody. Whether you're Bruce Blakeman running
- 5:55Speaker 1: for governor, Bruce is running against Hochul and Mamdani. Whether
- 6:00Speaker 1: you're Janine Driscoll running for Congress, she's running against Laura
- 6:04Speaker 1: Gillum and Mamdani. Whether you're Michael Petri, he's running against
- 6:09Speaker 1: Tom Suozzi and Mamdani. So you made the message very,
- 6:13Speaker 1: very clear to Jewish New Yorkers, not because you're Jewish
- 6:18Speaker 1: and you are and a proud Jew, But if they
- 6:20Speaker 1: want to be treated better in the state of New York,
- 6:23Speaker 1: if they want to see these anti-Semitism numbers start to
- 6:27Speaker 1: get to a place where you can live with it,
- 6:30Speaker 1: then the truth is, you're the guy for the job, right?
- 6:34Speaker 2: Well, you know, Zoran Mondami is not only a danger
- 6:38Speaker 2: to Jews, he's a danger to anybody who loves American values.
- 6:42Speaker 2: He calls for collectivism. That's nothing more than another name
- 6:46Speaker 2: for communism. Do we want to live in a communist country?
- 6:51Speaker 2: Do we want to live in substandard housing? Do we
- 6:54Speaker 2: want to wait a year to get a hip replacement?
- 6:57Speaker 2: Do we want to wait online for four hours to
- 6:59Speaker 2: get substandard food from grocery stores? That's the world Zoran
- 7:05Speaker 2: Mandami wants to create. So he's a danger to everyone.
- 7:09Speaker 2: And look, I don't think he particularly likes Christians. He
- 7:13Speaker 2: couldn't find an hour out of his day to go
- 7:15Speaker 2: to the installation shop of the head of the Catholic Church,
- 7:18Speaker 2: the largest religion in New York City. So he still
- 7:22Speaker 2: hasn't said what he was doing that was more important
- 7:24Speaker 2: that day. Cancel the breakfast for the Puerto Rican Day
- 7:27Speaker 2: parade leaders. What was that all about? Every other mayor
- 7:32Speaker 2: hosted them at Gracie Mansion. I called my Puerto Rican
- 7:35Speaker 2: friends and I said, why did he cancel your breakfast?
- 7:38Speaker 2: And they said, we don't know because he hasn't said,
- 7:41Speaker 2: but we think he just didn't want all those Christians
- 7:44Speaker 2: in his house. It's true.
- 7:46Speaker 1: No question. You know, for a Republican to win office
- 7:49Speaker 1: in New York, we know it's difficult, but you keep winning.
- 7:51Speaker 1: You win easily because you appeal to Democrats and independents.
- 7:56Speaker 1: So my buddy Mike Sullivan, you know, well, he loves you, Mr.
- 7:58Speaker 1: Brennan Carr. He wants to put on a fundraiser for
- 8:02Speaker 1: his brother, Tom Sullivan. Thomas is a great guy. Served
- 8:05Speaker 1: in Iraq, Afghanistan. You know the whole story. He's campaigned
- 8:09Speaker 1: with you, Bruce. So he's putting it on at the
- 8:12Speaker 1: Bell Harbor Yacht Club in a couple of weeks. And
- 8:14Speaker 1: he said, you know, Sid, Stephen Van Zandt, he loves Thomas.
- 8:20Speaker 1: Van Zandt is not exactly MAGA Republican. He works with
- 8:23Speaker 1: Bruce Springsteen. He's not as crazy as Bruce. He's a
- 8:27Speaker 1: much more level-headed guy. But Mike said, do you think
- 8:29Speaker 1: it's a good idea? And I referenced you, Bruce. I said, look,
- 8:34Speaker 1: look at Blakeman. He keeps winning in a Democrat neighborhood
- 8:38Speaker 1: time and time again. And look what's happened with Blakeman's
- 8:42Speaker 1: campaign the last couple of months. Bonnie Lautenberg. Bob Holden,
- 8:47Speaker 1: and this week, Debra Messing. Of course it's a good
- 8:51Speaker 1: idea for Van Zandt to be at this event, because
- 8:54Speaker 1: if you're going to win, you need help from independents
- 8:58Speaker 1: and Democrats, and nobody, Bruce Blakeman, does it better than you.
- 9:04Speaker 2: You know, Sid, I'm a Republican, and I have certain
- 9:10Speaker 2: policy positions, and I have certain political positions. And they
- 9:16Speaker 2: are usually the opposite of liberal Democrats. But liberal Democrats
- 9:22Speaker 2: are supporting me for governor because they love America. The
- 9:26Speaker 2: difference between the Democratic Party that we all knew growing up,
- 9:31Speaker 2: we had policy differences with them. But Mario Cuomo, Ed Koch,
- 9:36Speaker 2: Hugh Carey, even Bill Clinton, you knew they loved America.
- 9:41Speaker 2: This group with DSA, with Zoran Mondavi, The people that
- 9:45Speaker 2: Kathy Hochul affiliates herself with, Chevalier, Lander, Bernie Sanders. These
- 9:52Speaker 2: people hate America. They do. And liberal Democrats love America.
- 9:57Speaker 2: They may not agree with me on everything. but they
- 10:00Speaker 2: agree with me that we need to clean up our communities.
- 10:03Speaker 2: We need to lower our taxes, lower our utility bills.
- 10:05Speaker 2: We need safer neighborhoods. And we've got to stop the
- 10:08Speaker 2: anti-American rhetoric coming from the Democratic Party. And Zoran Mondami
- 10:14Speaker 2: is running the Democratic Party now.
- 10:16Speaker 1: He's a punk. Last one, and you've got to run
- 10:18Speaker 1: to Syracuse, and I appreciate your time this morning. Is
- 10:21Speaker 1: the state screwing you again? Why am I hearing stories
- 10:25Speaker 1: about the public financing board not giving you your matching funds?
- 10:31Speaker 1: What is that all about?
- 10:33Speaker 2: Well, it's certainly been delayed. It's been going through a
- 10:37Speaker 2: lot of different hurdles to get over that really shouldn't
- 10:43Speaker 2: be there. Of course, they're fooling around with us again.
- 10:46Speaker 2: Of course, they're trying to stop me from rightfully getting
- 10:51Speaker 2: the matching funds that we are overqualified for. So we'll
- 10:56Speaker 2: see if the money lands today. If it doesn't, you'll
- 10:59Speaker 2: be hearing from me on that issue. It's supposed to
- 11:01Speaker 2: be wired in today. But they play games because they
- 11:06Speaker 2: can't win the public policy issues. Kathy Hochul has made
- 11:11Speaker 2: New York miserable. I want to make them happy again.
- 11:14Speaker 2: I want to make New Yorkers get up in the
- 11:16Speaker 2: morning and be happy to go to work, be happy
- 11:18Speaker 2: to be a New Yorker. They're miserable under Kathy Hochul.
- 11:21Speaker 2: So Kathy Hochul can't talk about her record. She can't
- 11:25Speaker 2: attack mine because my record is making people happy, cutting
- 11:28Speaker 2: their taxes, making them safer. Kathy Hochul is doing everything
- 11:33Speaker 2: she can with dirty tricks and everything else to try
- 11:36Speaker 2: and stop me. But nothing will stop us, Sid. Nothing
- 11:40Speaker 2: will stop us. The people are on our side, and
- 11:44Speaker 2: we're going to win.
- 11:45Speaker 1: We are going to win. What time does this big
- 11:47Speaker 1: event with President Trump and you start in Syracuse today?
- 11:51Speaker 2: Well, there's a whole series of events leading up to
- 11:54Speaker 2: the president, but he'll probably going to speak early evening,
- 11:58Speaker 2: probably between 6 and 7 p.m.
- 12:00Speaker 1: Fantastic. Have a safe trip to Syracuse. You're magnificent, Bruce.
- 12:04Speaker 1: You're not good. You're great. I love you so much.
- 12:06Speaker 1: You're running a great campaign. And at the same time, amazingly...
- 12:10Speaker 1: still doing a great job in your second term as
- 12:13Speaker 1: Nassau County Executive, keeping that county the safest and best
- 12:18Speaker 1: county anywhere in the country. You truly are amazing, Bruce Blakeman.
- 12:23Speaker 1: Have a great day with President Trump today. Give my
- 12:25Speaker 1: friend my regards. We'll talk again very, very soon. Thank you.
- 12:28Speaker 2: Thanks, brother. God bless.
- 12:30Speaker 1: Love you. Take care. Bruce Blakeman right there on Sid
- 12:32Speaker 1: and Friends in the morning, about to head to Syracuse,
- 12:35Speaker 1: New York. A long day, a big day, a great
- 12:38Speaker 1: day with the President of the United States. Again, there
- 12:42Speaker 1: aren't rumors, and I get good information. They'll be back
- 12:46Speaker 1: on Long Island together, too, before Election Day. But for today,
- 12:50Speaker 1: Blakeman and Trump in Syracuse. And no, a lot of
- 12:53Speaker 1: you are asking me, I am not making it to
- 12:55Speaker 1: Syracuse today. I will be in D.C. on Wednesday, personally
- 12:59Speaker 1: invited by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and Howard Lutnick.
- 13:04Speaker 1: And my plan is to go see President Trump in D.C.
- 13:07Speaker 1: on Wednesday.
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- 13:36Speaker 3: so you never have to wonder.
- 13:37Speaker 1: What the heck is going on here?