U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, blasted Gov. Andrew Cuomo Monday for his remarks last week that America “never was that great.”
Cuomo, who is seeking re-election to a third term in November and is locked in a primary with Cynthia Nixon in September, was made during a Wednesday speech at a signing of a bill about penalties for sex trafficking. He walked back the remark Friday after he was widely criticized by Republicans and President Donald Trump, whose slogan Cuomo had been referencing.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro called on Cuomo to apologize for his remarks about America.
Reed added his voice to that criticism on Monday in a conference call with reporters.
“The governor spoke his mind,” Reed said of the gaffe. “He spoke it freely. When he walked it back, he did it for political purposes.”
Reed added: “We can always improve. Fundamentally, the core of America has always been great and will be great for years to come.”
ON ANOTHER SUBJECT, Reed said he might vote for a Democrat for speaker who is committed to House rules changes next year if Republicans lose control of the House of Representatives.
Reed said earlier this month he won’t vote for a candidate for speaker in 2019 who has not committed to a series of rules changes designed to break the current congressional gridlock.
So far, Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Democratic whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., are the only potential speaker candidates who have agreed to support the rules changes proposed by Reed and other members of the Problem Solvers Caucus.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the frontrunner to replace Speaker Paul Ryan if Republicans hold onto control of the House, has not committed to changing the House rules.
Ohio Republican Jim Jordan of the Freedom Caucus is also a candidate for speaker.
If Democrats take control of the House in the November election, Reed said that given a choice of voting for a Republican candidate for speaker who is not committed to changing the House rules and a Democrat who would vote to change the rules, he’d vote for the Democrat.
This would be historic, Reed agreed. Parties generally support the speaker candidate of their party.
“It will be a very tight majority one way or the other,” Reed said. A candidate needs 218 votes to be elected speaker.
House Republicans and Democrats will vote in secret after the November election on their choices for speaker. A candidate needs 51 percent support to run for speaker in the following January.
Reed said he and other Republican members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus could potentially withhold their vote for speaker if the GOP ends up losing control of the House.
A lot of members agree the situation in the House “needs to change,” Reed said. Reforming the rules would help stop the deadlock, he said.
Conversely, if Republicans manage to hold onto power in the House in the midterm elections, there could be some Democrats voting for Republican candidates, Reed indicated.
“Our leadership is aware of it,” Reed said of the speaker and his staff on the Problem Solvers push for new House rules.
(Contact reporter Rick Miller at rmiller@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @RMillerOTH)
