Hochul Tells Sharpton She Wants Understanding With Trump That New York Won’t ‘Allow’ Him ‘To Just Take People Off the Streets’
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Sunday that despite a one-on-one conversation with President Donald Trump, she does not intend to “allow” federal immigration enforcement to “just take people of the streets” in the state.
Hochul joined MSNBC’s Al Sharpton on Sunday for the latest PoliticsNation to discuss several topics, starting with her recent conversation with Trump, which she defended as necessary but hastened to assure the host and viewers does not mean she won’t “fight back hard” when the administration has “attacked our values.”
Sharpton asked Hochul about the visit with Trump at the White House “in terms of the tone and the substance” of the conversation.
The governor began by offering an explanation for having spoken to Trump, saying that she has things to get done for New York that are very important. She told Sharpton that she also wanted to “make sure” that she and the president had “an understanding on immigration that says, we’ll help you when you have serious violent criminals you need to get off the streets.”
“I’ve always said that. We’ve done that under the Biden administration,” Hochul said. “But we’re not going to be there to allow you to just take people off the streets and we split up families.”
After elaborating on other topics covered with Trump, Hochul again assured Sharpton and MSNBC viewers that it was necessary to “keep the dialogue open” with Trump but that it “does not take away from my responsibility as a leader of the state to fight back and fight back hard when the line is crossed and you’ve hurt New Yorkers or attacked our values.”
SHARPTON: You met with President Trump at the White House on Friday. What can you share with us about that meeting in terms of the tone and the substance of your conversation?
HOCHUL: Well, I reached out to the president again, because there is so much I need to deliver for New York and New York City in particular. I need to get Penn Station done and make sure we have money for the Second Avenue subway, which is so important.
I want to make sure that we have an understanding on immigration that says, we’ll help you when you have serious violent criminals you need to get off the streets. I’ve always said that. We’ve done that under the Biden administration. But we’re not going to be there to allow you to just take people off the streets and we split up families.
And so, we had a conversation also about tariffs. I wanna talk about the impact of tariffs on New York. It is devastating. Absolutely devastating for our farmers upstate New York, for our factory workers who aren’t sure if they’re gonna be able to do phase two, a major product.
I was in Buffalo, my hometown, right on the border with Canada. So I needed to be able to continue the conversation with him on some of our energy policies. I talked about how important offshore wind was, talked about… opportunities for maybe small modular reactors, we could power the innovation economy in New York. I need to keep that dialog going.
But also, understand this about me. My willingness to talk about areas where we could have a common interest does not take away from my responsibility as a leader of the state to fight back and fight back hard when the line is crossed and you’ve hurt New Yorkers or attacked our values.
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
