New York Attorney General Letitia James vowed to “fight back again” as she and Gov. Kathy Hochul treated President-elect Donald Trump as the enemy in a divisive post-election press conference Wednesday.
A defiant Hochul announced she formed an “Empire State Freedom Initiative” to prepare to fight “policy and regulatory threats” from the incoming Trump administration.
The Democratic governor said she’s prepared to work with Trump, but spent much of her time talking about readying for political and legal war.
“You try to harm New Yorkers or roll back their rights, I will fight you every step of the way,” Hochul said during the press conference at her Manhattan office.”
She treated Trump’s victory — he won both the electoral and popular vote nationwide and performed more strongly in blue New York — like a funeral.
“New Yorkers will persevere over the next four years,” she said.
James, meanwhile, said her office had been “preparing” for a potential second Trump administration.
“I am ready to do everything in my power to ensure our state and nation do not go backwards,” she said in a statement. “Together with Governor Hochul, our partners in state and local government, and my colleague attorneys general from throughout the nation, we will work each and every day to defend Americans, no matter what this new administration throws at us. We are ready to fight back again.”
Republicans blasted Hochul’s dual press conference as bizarre and counterproductive.
“Hochul is out of her mind,” said state Republican Party chairman Ed Cox.
“This does not help New Yorkers. It’s dumb and bizarre,” he said.
