Cuomo criticizes Trump over Capitol violence but stops short of calling for ouster

(The Center Square) – While a rising number of Democrats in Washington have called on the removal of President Donald Trump in the wake of Wednesday’s violent riots at the U.S. Capitol, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo does not share the same opinion.

It’s not that Cuomo was defending the president, with whom he has waged political battles over the past four years. Instead, he’s not sure it’s worth doing with less than two weeks left before President-elect Joe Biden takes over.

But something, though, needs to take place, he said.

“I do believe a statement should be made condemning what happened,” the governor told reporters Thursday. “This was a failed coup. This was four years of appealing to fear and division and distrust. This was a clear violation of the Constitution and the orderly transition.”

Those comments came a few hours after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Trump’s removal, either by impeachment or by the 25th Amendment.

Already, a number of his conservative supporters have abandoned Trump, Cuomo said, because of the riot.

Cuomo, a former Housing and Urban Development secretary under President Bill Clinton, went on to argue that Cabinet members and Vice President Pence should join in the call for Trump’s removal. Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate who voted to overturn certified election results also need to step forward, he said.

“If I’m them, I want to clear my name for the history books, but I don’t know the practical transition in terms of the new HUD secretary being debriefed by the old HUD secretary in 13 days,” he said. “I don’t know that that’s all that relevant. I think this is a more profound statement of who you are and what you believe, and where were you on this pivotal issue in the history of this nation?”

The governor started his briefing by saying Wednesday’s events didn’t start with the president’s speech to his supporters earlier in the day. Instead, it was a manifestation of more than four years of the rhetoric Trump has spewed.

Cuomo added that it was ironic that a president who claimed to be a stickler for law and order led his supporters to attack federal police on the Capitol grounds.

“When you, as President in the United States, with that large microphone, tell people to be frightened of other people, tell them to be violent, speak about carnage, arm yourself, defend yourself,” Cuomo said. “Don’t be surprised at the anger and the hell that you have rallied. That was him. That’s his legacy.”

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