Andrew Cuomo: Trump “Better have an Army if He Thinks He’s Going to Walk Down the Street in NY.”

Our friends at Fox News have more on Cuomo's bold comments:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded Wednesday night after President Trump threatened to pull federal funding from New York City -- as well as Washington, D.C.; Seattle, and Portland, Ore. -- as part of an effort to target “anarchist jurisdictions.”

“He can’t have enough bodyguards to walk through New York City,” Cuomo said. “Forget bodyguards, he'd better have an army if he thinks he’s going to walk down the streets in New York.

“He is persona non grata in New York City, and I think he knows that, and he'll never come back to New York, because New Yorkers will never forget how gratuitously mean he has been,” Cuomo added.

Both Cuomo, 62, and Trump, 74, are natives of the Queens borough of New York City.

Cuomo reportedly later clarified he was not threatening the president but rather expressing how disliked he believes Trump is by New Yorkers, according to Politico.

Trump has repeatedly gone after “Democrat cities,” blaming their leadership for the rise of the Black Lives Matter protests that have erupted across the nation since a Black man named George Floyd died May 25 while in police custody in Minneapolis.

New rounds of protests sparked following the Aug. 23 police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man from Kenosha, Wis., who remains hospitalized.

“My administration will not allow federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones,” Trump wrote in the memo Tuesday.

Trump's remarks came as the presidential election campaign enters its final weeks. The president has attempted to draw a clear line between him as being tough on crime, and his opponent, Democratic nominee Joe Biden, as being weak.

This sure sounded like a threat to me.

Many Americans seem to agree...

According to the New York Post, Cuomo tried to walk back his inflammatory comments:

On substance, Cuomo said he doubted the legality of Trump’s five-page memo ordering a review of federal funds that can be redirected from New York City, Portland, Seattle and Washington, DC.

“It is more of the same from him. It’s political, it is gratuitous. And it’s illegal. But it is another attempt to kill New York City,” Cuomo said.

“President Ford said drop dead. President Trump has been actively trying to kill New York City since he’s been elected,” he said.

In highly personal and insulting language, Cuomo speculated that Trump wasn’t upset about New York’s soaring murder rate and shootings.

“I think it’s because he is from New York City and New York City rejected him, always,” Cuomo said. “He was dismissed as a clown in New York City, those who know him best, like him least.”

Cuomo jeered: “He was disrespected in New York City. Nobody took him seriously and he was just a tabloid cartoon.”

Referring to a claim in a recent book by Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, Cuomo said, “his sister, a former federal judge, is disgraced by him.”

The governor also claimed Trump’s “negligence” is the reason New York state suffered the highest COVID-19 death toll. The governor’s critics blame his Health Department’s mandate that forbade nursing homes from turning away COVID-19-positive patients, potentially leading to at least 6,500 deaths.

At the end of his call, Cuomo, apparently sensing how his remarks about Trump could be seen as threatening, attempted to walk them back.

“My comment about the president and bodyguards in New York City, all I’m saying is that he is persona non grata in New York City. And I think he knows that. And he’ll never come back to New York, because New Yorkers will never forget how gratuitously mean he has been to New Yorkers and how many times he’s tried to kill the city that gave him his start and birthed him. That’s what I meant about the bodyguards.”