Activists led by gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon gathered outside the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street Wednesday to demand Gov. Andrew Cuomo return prior donations he received from President Donald Trump.
Cuomo, who is seeking a third term in office and will face Nixon in the Democratic primary election on Sept. 13, received $64,000 in donations from Donald Trump between 2001 and 2009, the New York Post reported last month.
Trump, then a real estate mogul and reality TV star, gave to both Democrats and Republicans prior becoming president in 2016.
Nixon has been calling on her rival Cuomo to return the Trump donations, but when questioned at a July event in Brooklyn, the governor said, “I’m going to be deeply critical of him and keep the contributions.”
Cynthia Nixon: “We need a governor to oppose Donald Trump in every way”
Nixon reignited her plea Wednesday, just one day after two of Trump’s closest allies, Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen, were, respectively, found guilty of bank and tax fraud and pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and other charges.
“I am here to call on Andrew Cuomo to return the $64,000 he has had donated to him by Donald Trump. This should have happened a long time ago,” Nixon said. “The fact that Gov. Cuomo is even considering keeping a cent from a man like (Trump) tells us everything we need to know about our current governor.”
When asked why she’s focusing on donations that stem back 17 years and not current issues facing New York, Nixon said, “I spend every day talking about problems in New York. We need a governor here to oppose Donald Trump in every way.”
Ava Benezra of the Working Families Party, which has endorsed Nixon, said Cuomo’s refusal to return the Donald Trump donations “is an insult to women, to immigrants and to working families across New York and this country. It’s time for a leader who will actually stand up to Donald Trump. It’s time to vote Gov. Cuomo out of office.”
In an email to Metro, Cuomo’s campaign aid Lis Smith said, “The joke is on Cynthia Nixon and Donald Trump. We are using his contributions to elect Democrats up and down the ticket to fight his agenda tooth and nail. New York is the antidote to Trump’s America, and we will use every resource at our disposal to defeat his dangerous policies.”
