Andrew Cuomo Claims 'Diversity Can Be A Weakness'

Cuomo was given the opportunity to “correct the record” if he didn’t mean to say such remarks. Instead, he doubled down.

New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo said “diversity can be a weakness” when asked to condemn Islamophobic remarks about his opponent Zohran Mamdani.

“As New York governor for 11 years and attorney general, our diversity is our strength,” Cuomo, who is running for mayor as an independent and trailing in the polls, said Saturday on MSNBC. “But it can also be a weakness, so you have to work very, very hard to make sure you’re always keeping people united, and there’s always flare-ups among different races, religions, creeds for one reason or another.”

MSNBC Eugene Daniels, who appeared shocked at Cuomo’s comment, asked Cuomo to “correct the record” if he didn’t mean to say that. Cuomo doubled down.

“Diversity can be a weakness if you have antipathy among groups, Jonathan,” Cuomo said, getting Daniels’ name wrong.

Cuomo continued: “If you have racism or antisemitism, etc. So then you’d have friction, right? Which we have had in New York, and so you have to work very hard to keep it as a positive and to make sure that it’s not a negative, and you have zero tolerance for any racism, any antisemitism, etc.”