By KYLE PRATT
Opinion Editor
With the national government being in the hands of the most terrifying group of people in decades, New York State, with the leadership of Governor Andrew Cuomo, is becoming a beacon of hope.
Since the election of Donald Trump, Cuomo has been on the offensive, criticizing the president’s treatment of women, minorities, and immigrants.
“If anyone feels that they are under attack,” Cuomo wrote in November, “I want them to know that the state of New York – the state that has the Statue of Liberty in its harbor – is their refuge.”
Cuomo’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. He went viral in January when he challenged the president to deport him.
“If there is a move to deport immigrants, then I say then start with me,” Cuomo said, “I am the son of Mario Cuomo, the son of Andrea Cuomo, a poor Italian immigrant, who came to this country without a job, without money, without resources.”
While the comments were laughed at by conservative pundits, they show an impressive effort by Cuomo to make New York an inclusive state under Trump’s presidency. In a state that easily went to Hillary Clinton in November, this has led to a spike in the governor’s approval rating, which is up to 60 percent according to a recent Sienna poll.
Cuomo’s open critiques of a remarkably unpopular president are scoring him points with New Yorkers, potentially catapulting him to reelection in 2018. He’s firing up the base, as evidenced by his Free Tuition Plan.
The New York governor is becoming a national progressive leader, even partnering with California governor Jerry Brown on clean energy.
Cuomo is positioning himself as a counterweight to the president, which sets him up for a widely expected run for the White House in the future.
Regardless of his intentions, this is the perfect time for Cuomo to stand up against an administration of billionaires with objectionable morals and beliefs.
New York is an ethnically, racially diverse state with a large immigrant population. It is home to the Stonewall Inn, where the LGBTQ rights movement began. It is home to one of just 21 female senators.
All of these groups are threatened by our “so-called” president, and Cuomo is in the perfect position to stand up for them.
He is doing just that.
