De Blasio: Cuomo’s bullying is nothing new

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio speaks to the media at the opening of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination site at Citi Field on February 10, 2021 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

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UPDATED 12:35 PM PT – Thursday, February 18, 2021

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) is feeling the pressure from his reported nursing home deaths cover-up. During an interview on Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the governor’s recent bullying “classic Andrew Cuomo.”

.@NYCMayor de Blasio reacts to our interview with NY Assemblyman @RonTKim, who says he was threatened by @NYGovCuomo: “That’s classic Andrew Cuomo…The bullying is nothing new.” https://t.co/nflM2tLyq8 pic.twitter.com/O7HVYyz7vt

— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) February 18, 2021

De Blasio responded to New York Assemblyman Ron Kim’s claims that Cuomo berated him over the phone for ten minutes. Kim said the governor pressured him to change his public statement about his top aide and the state’s handling of nursing home deaths.

“I believe Ron Kim and it’s very, very sad. No public servant, no person who is telling the truth should be treated that way,” De Blasio noted. “The threats, the belittling, the demand that someone change their statement right that moment. Many, many times I’ve heard that and I know a lot of other people in the state have heard that.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 08: New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at a news conference on September 08, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

This came after Cuomo’s senior aide Melissa DeRosa reportedly told lawmakers the administration froze the release of information on nursing home deaths out of fear of a federal probe.

RELATED: Gov. Cuomo Threatens N.Y. Lawmaker Over Nursing Home Criticism