By The American Tribune | Created at 2026-09-28 10:21:10 | Updated at 2026-09-28 14:24:46
4 hours ago
President Donald Trump accused New York Governor Kathy Hochul of advancing what he called a “communist attack on American society” during a speech to law enforcement officers on Long Island. Trump attacked the state’s bail rules and immigration policies while urging voters to elect her Republican challenger, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. He highlighted the governor’s record, framed Blakeman’s candidacy as an answer to the public safety issue, and repeatedly turned to him to make the political stakes clear.
Trump delivered the remarks August 14th at the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence in Garden City, New York. The event brought him before Nassau County police and other law enforcement personnel as Blakeman campaigned to unseat Hochul. After praising the county executive’s work, Trump shifted to the governor. “Nowhere is the communist attack on American society more clear than here in New York State,” he said.
Trump called Hochul “a nightmare for crime” and blamed New York’s bail changes on former Governor Andrew Cuomo. “That was a Cuomo beauty, right? That was a Cuomo beauty,” he said. He offered a stark description of what he says happens when defendants are released without posting cash: “You kill somebody, you rob a store, you go right back out on the streets.” The crowd had booed when Trump named Hochul earlier in the exchange.
The president’s remarks quickly became a pitch for Blakeman. “Bruce, how the hell can you lose to that?” Trump asked, drawing laughter. “If you lose, you’re going to be ashamed for the rest of your life,” he added. Trump kept addressing Blakeman directly as he argued that Hochul’s record gave the Republican an opening in the governor’s race.
The repeat offender problem Trump described has also drawn warnings from New York City police leaders. In an April 2025 public safety briefing, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said 39% of people arrested during the first quarter of 2025 had been arrested at least twice in those three months. She said 21% had been arrested three or more times. Those figures show the clear pattern behind Trump’s warning: residents and businesses can face continued problems with the same people even after police have already arrested them.
Trump widened his attack to immigration and parole, accusing Hochul of weakening parole enforcement for convicted felons and spending public money on lawyers for people in the country illegally. He also criticized sanctuary policies, arguing that they make it harder to remove dangerous people. For New Yorkers, he presented the consequence as another chance for someone who has committed a crime to harm a neighbor, a store employee, or a police officer.
Turning to an immigration measure Hochul signed earlier in the year, Trump accused her of making New York a “so-called sanctuary State.” He argued that foreign governments had sent people they didn’t want into the United States and said Hochul wanted them to remain in New York. “We don’t want to keep them in New York. We don’t want them. We don’t want to take a chance,” he said. His speech returned repeatedly to the people who would ultimately bear the burden when a violent offender inevitably committed another crime.
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Watch Trump’s remarks here:
Trump also cast his position as a matter of common sense rather than party doctrine. “I guess I’m a conservative guy, but I’m a common sense guy more than a conservative guy,” he told the officers. He called Blakeman a “common sense guy” as well, tying his endorsement to the county executive’s law enforcement record. The speech left little doubt about the contrast Trump wanted voters to take into the governor’s race come election day. “But Hochul and the radical left stand with the gang members, child predators, violent felons,” Trump said. “We stand with hardworking New Yorkers. We stand with the great people of law enforcement.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.
