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As this weekend’s blizzard blew through the Empire State, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul received blowback for her response to an offer of federal assistance from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose office oversees FEMA.
State snowfall totals topped 22 inches in West Shokan, Ulster County, outside Saugerties, while New City received 17.5 inches, Golden’s Bridge near the Connecticut line in Westchester County received 16.5 inches, Huguenot on Staten Island received 14 inches, and Levittown on Long Island received 13 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
Instead of confirming she accepted DHS’s offer to help, Hochul indicated she took the opportunity to criticize federal immigration enforcement:
“Secretary Noem offered assistance to New York ahead of the impending snowstorm,” Hochul said over the weekend.
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“I shared that the fastest way to help is for ICE to back off so people feel safe accessing warming centers, shelters, hospitals, and houses of worship.”
Her response was not well received by several prominent New Yorkers and New York entities.
“Worst governor in history,” the Staten Island Young Republicans said in a statement on X.
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NYC Scoop, a popular account sharing events and happenings in New York City, similarly fumed at the governor.
“You literally just told a U.S. Cabinet Secretary offering FREE blizzard relief to f— off because ICE might make your illegal alien constituents feel ‘unsafe’,” NYC Scoop said.
“You’re not a governor. You’re a border checkpoint for cartels. Resign, you treasonous ice queen.”
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Conservative strategist and former Ted Cruz staffer Steve Guest said the governor is “prioritizing politics over her constituents, and people are already dying.”
Guest included a screenshot of a WNBC report of three New Yorkers who had died from the sub-freezing temperatures during the storm.
When asked about the tweet, White House spokesman Kush Desai rebuked the governor:
“What a surprise — while President Trump and his entire Administration have taken steps to ensure all Americans have the resources they need to recover from this historic winter storm, Democrats instead are, once again, prioritizing the well-being of criminal illegal aliens.”
Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman responded in a statement, saying that the governor — who he is challenging this year — “actually rejected federal assistance that was offered to help keep people safe.”
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“When lives are at risk, you don’t turn down help,” Blakeman said.
Another X critic compared the situation to New York’s underuse of military medical ships docked off Manhattan during COVID-19, saying that Democrats did not want to dignify them because President Donald Trump sent them.
However, a source familiar with the situation said Hochul never rejected federal assistance and that all storm-related requests from local governments were supported by Albany.
Hochul later tweeted a call for U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino to be fired and for Noem to resign.
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“[Noem] has forfeited her right to lead,” Hochul said, further suggesting Bovino is acting as if he is “above the law.”
Later Monday, she also said that President Donald Trump’s dispatch of Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota won’t undo “harm” done by his administration.
In a lighter message, Hochul quipped that as a “governor from Buffalo,” she knows how to handle a snowstorm.
The eyes of the nation often see the kind of hefty snowfall that accumulates in the western New York area during televised Buffalo Bills games in the NFL playoffs.
“Push it out of the way — no strain on the back doing that… don’t lift much; smaller bits, OK — don’t do a big pile and fill this up because that can lead to a heart attack,” Hochul said in the clip.
In response to Blakeman’s retort, Hochul campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki told Fox News Digital, “After blaming Renée Good for her own killing by ICE, Bruce Blakeman is showing New Yorkers yet again that there’s no low he won’t stoop to for Donald Trump – no matter how far he goes to trample over Americans’ rights.”
“New Yorkers want a governor with a backbone who will protect our state from Trump’s abuses of power, not a spineless coward who defends violence against Americans when it suits him politically,” Radulovacki said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul for comment on the criticisms, and to DHS for comment on the situation.
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