Governor Andrew Cuomo pulled no punches in slamming Donald Trump Tuesday for the president’s tweet repeating a baseless conspiracy theory that the 75-year-old pacifist shoved and seriously injured by cops in Buffalo last week was somehow part of a staged incident.
“There’s no fact to any of it,” Cuomo exclaimed over Trump’s morning tweet about the incident, in which a Buffalo police officer brutally shoved Martin Gugino, 75, after the activist approached him.
Gugino fell to the sidewalk, his head hitting the concrete, causing bleeding from his ears and head. He’s still hospitalized in intensive care, according to the governor. Two officers were subsequently suspended without pay and charged with felony assault.
President’s lie about Buffalo police violence victim was “reckless, mean, crude,” governor says
But Trump, in an apparent defense of the brutal shove, claimed without evidence that the episode was part of a vast left-wing conspiracy.
Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2020
The tweet left Cuomo, and much of the nation, shocked and apoplectic.
“What does that even mean?” Cuomo said of Trump’s conspiracy peddling. “You think it was staged? You think the blood coming out of [Gugino’s] head was staged? Is that what you’re saying? You saw his head hit the pavement. You see blood on the pavement. How reckless, how irresponsible, how mean, how crude.”
Going on to call Trump’s tweet “a reprehensible, dumb comment,” the governor demanded a public apology from the president.
“If he ever feels a moment of decency, he should apologize for that tweet, because it is wholly unacceptable,” Cuomo said, adding that Trump had poured “gasoline on the fire” amid “this moment of anger and anguish.”
“Show some decency, some humanity, some fairness,” the governor extolled.
This article was first published at amny.com. To sign up for the Gay City News email newsletter, visit gaycitynews.com/newsletter.
