New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says she pressed President Donald Trump in private about why he hadn’t backed one of his most loyal MAGA allies for governor — and eventually got a revealing answer.
Speaking with The Atlantic’s Russell Berman, Hochul opened up about conversations with Trump that she said ranged from cordial to combative. She also recalled asking Trump why he had withheld an endorsement from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in the GOP primary for governor.
“Trump hemmed and hawed, she said, praising Stefanik while also noting his long friendship with Blakeman,” Berman wrote Thursday. But Hochul pressed him again.
“He looks the part,” Trump finally said of Blakeman, according to Hochul.
The conversation reportedly took place last December on the day Stefanik abandoned her gubernatorial bid. The MAGA lawmaker had sought Trump’s backing in the primary against Blakeman, but the president stayed neutral, Berman reported.
“So that’s why I’m running against Blakeman,” Hochul told The Atlantic. She then offered a prediction about her opponent’s future.
“And that’s why he’ll be in Trump’s Cabinet next year,” she told Berman, in a moment he called “a bit of bravado.”
