Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and Analysis - We’ll Do It LIVE! — Andrew Cuomo

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) joins Bill for a “no BS” interview about the Democratic Party, the rise of socialism/communism within, and the extreme taking it over. He talks about his mayoral loss to Zohran Mamdani, President Trump, and governing during COVID. 0:00 — Intro 2:23 — Far-Left Democrats 4:35 — Losing to Mamdani 6:03 — Democratic Socialists/Communists 8:51 — Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama support 10:24 — Not "far-left enough" and Kathy Hochul 12:55 — No bail law 15:26 — Trump and COVID 18:07 — Iran 22:22 — Antisemitism, Israel, and Mamdani 28:45 — COVID regrets, nursing homes 32:45 — Fauci 37:46 — Career under attack, symbolism vs. governing 44:04 — President Trump, midterms Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am not left enough. We are in a deteriorating country. It's easier to spin hate. He's a communist. There's no doubt he is. He's never managed a candy store. Free everything. Are they stupid?

It's all political BS. Hey Bill O'Reilly here and welcome to our long-form podcast called We'll Do It Live. And if you don't know why we call it that, I'm not going to tell you. But you can look it up. Today we have a very stimulating guest, and you know who he is. I do a weekly hit on News Nation with Chris Cuomo. Here is his older brother, and I had to introduce you that way, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and we're pleased to have him here.

We're going to a lot to talk about. What I've got to say, and you don't have to comment on this, I thought that your brother, Chris, got hosed by CNN because there are ways to do that covering stories that involve your family. And CNN seemed to have it out for him. I don't know the situation. I haven't delved into it.

But the fact that he stood up for you in a controversial situation didn't back away, I think speaks very well for him. Yeah. Well, you're right. I think he was treated unfairly. And look, you're a journalist. You're also a family member. You also have a First Amendment right to speak about your opinion on a situation. And he was very clear bill always to differentiate. And if they didn't want them to do it, they could have just said, look, you just tell the audience that because of your family ties, you can't cover the story. I mean, that's all. And, and, how many times that been done? Yeah, a ton of times. One hundred percent. So anyway, I want to get that on a row, so I beat him up enough that I have to give him a compliment from now and that. Was that a compliment? Yeah, it was. He was a stand-up guy for doing it. You know, I don't have a

brother, but if I did, I'd like a brother like him. Yeah. Don't tell him not, though. Yeah. Okay, so here we are, and I'm surprised that the Democratic Party has gone so far left. I'm not a party apparatchnik. I'm a registered independent in New York. I don't follow party politics. I don't particularly care about them. I want problem solvers in office. But what I've seen, and you were three terms as governor here, you're at the end you got a little left. But you were elected, as your father was, to be a moderate Democrat. Would that be accurate? Yes, sir. So what the hell happened? Well, I am still a moderate Democrat.

What happened to the Democrats is the Democrats lost, right, to Donald Trump, and then they became lost. This is a party in transition. This is a party with a simmering civil war. We're trying to figure out our identity as Democrats. And you have a far left, and you always had a far left. But this far left is much further left and is much louder and is much more aggressive. And they have frightened the moderates into submission. It's not that they're-

How do you do that, though? You're not frightened, are you? No, no. But they threaten. They threaten. If you are a moderate Democrat, they are going to primary you. And the extremes have always been very strong in the primary process, whether it was far right, Tea Party days, far left.

In the primaries, they are very strong. And they are very open and aggressive and hostile. And if you are a moderate Democrat, they are going to come after you and they are going to challenge you. And they have a lot of money and a lot of organizations on the socialist side, on the communist side, on the anti-Israel side, and they have frightened the moderate Democrats into submission.

Okay. On the surface, that answer is, makes a lot of sense. But you went up against a communist Mamdani in your hometown, and he beat you. I was surprised. I thought you were going to wax them. Yeah, well, look, but that is the point. You have in the primary, the far left.

But it wasn't a primary. It was you. It was him. And it was Slewa. Well, in the general, let's get to the general. But that's what I'm talking about. All right. Well, first, in the primary, it was disproportionately a far left vote, a younger vote.

Fine. Anti-Israel. But you had a chance one-on-one with this guy and he beat you. Yes. One-on-one, if you take, it was a three-way. If you took Curtis Slewa out of the race, 7%. 7%, it's basically a dead tie. And if you take Curtis Slewa out of the race, I would have beaten him because Slewa was attacking me every day as a side show.

On the debate stage bill, I think it's objectively fair to say on the debate stage, I beat Zoran clearly. but you then had Curtis who would come to his defense. One on one I would have beaten him. But you should have beaten him four on one. In the primary? No, in a manger, election. I mean, you're a three-term governor. Your legacy is your father was a moderate Democrat icon.

I went through my correspondence last night. I have two letters from your father. And he was very astute in politics. And I was wondering what Mario would have thought about a communist beating his son for the mayoral. Yeah, Bill, this is a different Democratic Party. So all these people who used to be moderates are all crazy socialists now? No, you now have, well, look, you never had the word socialist, right? Ten years ago, nobody was a socialist.

Yeah, that's right. Nobody was a socialist. Zoran shows up at the May Day rally as a communist. He's a communist. There's no doubt he is. So this never existed before. You have a whole generation of young people who are socialist slash communists. How did they get that way?

Recently, in reaction to Trump, Bernie Sanders, AOC, no king's rallies. across the country, getting hundreds of thousands of young people engaged. And then these false promises, free everything, free buses, frees the rent, free food, everything free, and this sense of indignation and social justice, no kings, do away with the billionaires, tax the rich. And they buy all this? Are they stupid? They are young and they buy it. They are young and they buy it. You were young. I was young. I never bought it. I knew what communism was from the jump.

Yeah. Well, it sounds good. Everything, you're going to freeze my rent? Great. Free buses? Great. Free grocery stores. Great. Tax the rich. Yeah. Screw the rich. You know. They're rich. I'm not. So it sounds good.

And you had a disproportionately, these young people, voted in massive numbers, and they're very organized. There's a lot of money behind this far left movement. Is this Soros money, these guys? This is Soros at all. Do you know why a guy like Soros who lives in Westchester, fairly near where you once lived, and has got all the money he could possibly have? Why does he want a communist nation? Do you know? This is his philosophy. He has been for a long time. But you never talked to him about it? No, no. Because this guy has a lot of damage. Now, you worked Secretary of HUD for Bill Clinton. You say Bill Clinton pretty astute a politician? I think he was great president, great politics.

Okay. So I talked to him a number of times, and the guy knows politics inside and out. Okay. I was surprised that a guy like him, maybe Hillary, others, Barack Obama, didn't come to your aid when the far left of your own party attacked you here. Letitia James, Hockel, the governor. Your own people took you out, but we didn't hear from the other people who knew you and knew what your public service. Sharkey was. You're surprised? Look, if you want loyalty in politics, get a dog, right? Is the old expression. First, many of them did.

Bill Clinton supported me in the mayoral election. And you're right, it was HUD Secretary. I was with him from day one to the last day of the administration, and we did great work for this country. But it's back to the first point. The far left, Me Too movement. There was a lot of energy around the Me Too movement. Nobody wanted to stand up to Me Too. And the far left of the party wanted me out.

Why? Because I was not far left enough. Which is ironic, by the way, because all my life, I'm too liberal, right? I'm first big state to pass marriage. equality. New York, highest minimum wage in the United States of America, New York, best gun law in the nation, New York. I'm too liberal all my life, but they are then so extreme that I am not left enough. Okay, so you just didn't toll. But Hockel, he's, she's whatever it is on Thursday. I mean, right? Hockel's not an ideal.

I don't see a Letitia James, absolutely. But Hockel is like, and you made Hocal. Hockel was my lieutenant governor. Yes. She, I told her that I was going to run again, and I was not going to run her again as lieutenant governor. That's what did it, huh? That didn't help.

But she was a conservative Democrat. Yeah, Erie. From Erie County, Buffalo, she was against driver's licenses for immigrants. Elliot Spitzer proposed immigrant driver's licenses, which we wound up doing years later. But she, as a Democrat, stood up against the Democratic governor and said she refused. And if any immigrant walked in, she would call the customs police, the immigration police. So she was a very conservative Democrat. But now she's not.

now she's hugging mandami. Right. Right? Why? Well, maybe she did a 180 degree philosophical change. Yeah. Or maybe the moderates are afraid of the far left. And she didn't want a primary.

So you placate the far left. Yeah, the lieutenant governor was going to primary her if she didn't stay in line. That's right. Okay. I got the fear element. Now, with your law enforcement background, I mean, your Attorney General of New York, you know what you're talking about as far as crime and punishment. I was surprised you didn't stand up against the no bail laws as much as you could have. You signed it.

What's that all about? Well, don't we punish violent criminals anymore here? Yeah, the Nobel law. is not actually a no bail law. The law I proposed was subject to judicial discretion, because let's go back to judicial discretion. You know how many loons there are, are sitting on a bench in the city? Yeah, but you're accused of a crime. You're just accused.

Yeah, no one has found you guilty of anything. Right. You go before a judge. He sets bail. the only people who wind up going to Rikers and not making bail are the poor people are the poor people you could sit in Rikers bill for two years before you ever heard before you're ever before a judge and you've never been found guilty of anything so now what is the well you could have done a speedy trial law you could have done a whole bunch of things we have speedy trial laws but the court system is

backed up, et cetera. So what's the inverse? If you're dangerous, then we're going to hold you and that's- But they don't hold them. Well, that's judicial discretion. I wanted the judicial discretion. But you knew the chaotic situation of the jurist population in New York. Everybody knows it. You got the poor guy pushing in front of the subway train from a four-time violent an offender because a judge let her out in the Bronx just last week. Yeah, but many, that is, judges not doing their job, right? Many states have judicial. No, they don't do their jobs. Yeah, but you can't then say bill. So what's the inverse? What's the solution? As soon as you're accused, you go to jail and you wait two years, maybe you have a trial, or you wait two years and really

what you have to do. So this was a poor fairness basic bill. Yeah, because there is basic due process still. And we wind up with a system where we just imprisoned anyone accused. Not anyone. Violent crimes. Hard to get into the system in New York with Alvin Bragging these people. And you know them. It's hard to get into the system.

Well, that has gotten worse. He does not prosecute crimes. It's up to 60, 65%. Yeah, that has gotten worse. Now, COVID, you and Trump are buddies. You're pals saying good things about. about each other, getting the boat in here that nobody ever used. All right, docking the boat over there.

Trump moved on on up. You still friends? COVID, look, Donald Trump and I go way back to Queens days. Sure. And he was, we went back and forth on COVID. We had our differences. There's no doubt I would do a morning briefing. But you were respectful.

Yes. Yes. And he did aid New York. And we, New York was ground zero. You know, COVID, we're listening to this now, Hanta virus on a cruise ship. Yeah. I tell you, I have PTSD from COVID,

and I hear about this Hanta virus, and it reminds me of COVID. Because COVID was here for months, and we never knew. If you remember what happened, COVID came to California. We're all looking at California and the state of Washington. And we said, oh, it came from China and it went to California.

No, it didn't. It went from China to Europe. Europe got on a plane, came to New York. But the bigger picture is this. You and President Trump worked together in a respectful way. Yes. Could that happen today? Plus or minus.

Yes. Yes. You have no beef with him? No. No, look, yes, I have beefs with him and he has beefs with me. But not overall. Not that you can't have a functional relationship because you have to have a functional relationship. But we don't in this country.

Well, that's because we've gone partisan, we have partisan paralysis. First of all, as a Democratic governor, Republican governor, who am I to say, well, politically, I don't like the president? So I'm not going to cooperate with the president. Did you call Minnesota lately? Yeah. But that's not, I believe that violates your fundamental. premise of being in office, right? I represent Democrats. I represent Republicans. This is the president of the United States. We have to work together. Well, you have political differences.

Fine. But you can't let your personal differences make the relationship dysfunctional. Otherwise, you are okay with Trump and to this day, if you called him, he'd take your call? Yes, I believe so. And again, we have many differences on many issues. Okay. So say you called him on Iran, which could blow up in everybody's face here. What would you tell him? Iran, look, first, I wish him success and this country's success in Iran. if he is successful, Bill, he will have accomplished something great, not just for this country, but for this world. Iran has been a preeminent threat for decades.

You buy the uranium seeking nuclear weapons. Yes. Yes, I do. Or I buy the threat that they have it, and that happens to be enough, by the way. Everyone's talked about it for decades. Nobody's done anything. And here you have a president who said, I'm going to do something. Now, do I believe he could have stood up in more of an orchestrated way and made a case to the American people and brought our allies along?

Yes, but put that aside. Now, he wants peace. He needs peace. Those gas prices are going up. The many times it come close. Don't leave the job half done, I would say. So you're a hawk on that floor. You have to make, you have to.

win, you have to make a deal. You're not going to get regime change, okay. But you have to say there is an independent force that is on the ground. We're going to make sure the enriched uranium is gone. We're going to make sure they can't create a nuclear weapon. And you can sleep well for 20 years knowing that. But that's going to take infantry on the ground in Iran. And after Iraq, the Americans don't have the appetite for that. We have put independent. agencies, not U.S. troops, independent agency. What does that mean? What's an independent agency that goes in? Independent agency. NATO's not going anywhere.

No, like, UN put together an independent agency. The UN, they can't even do Haiti. Well, there has to be, we can't leave the table with Iran saying, I promise. No, no, no. I understand. But how do you rectify the situation without putting Americans, soldiers, on the ground in that God-forsaken country. This is the art of the deal, as the president would say,

but there has to be a presence to police this. What are you going to come home with a piece of paper and say, hey, they sign. No, you have to go in there. That's what you get. You have to have the... But in order to impose that, you're going to have to send in troops to force the mullers to sign it.

They're not going to sign it. Well, he can't leave unless he has that inspection protocol in place. And you don't have a magic formula yet? I don't have a magic formula. But look, otherwise he didn't win. What's the option? He'll come off as the big loser and the Democrats will win in November in a landslide. But it is a very complicated situation.

It is complicated. And I'll tell you what gets me. You had the Strait of Hormuz there. You knew it. You knew that they used it before. It's like having the global economic jugular vein right in front of their country. And you know with these modern drones now, you don't need ballistic missiles. they have total control with that Strait of Hormuz.

And why we didn't anticipate this to this degree, of course they would have closed the Strait of Hormuz. Yeah. Fog of War. I mean, I can't answer that question, and Hague Seth has not answered it. Hague says, Secretary of War, we control the strait,

and we can escort anybody in and out of there. That's what he says. Now, off the big national picture, all right, then you get back to a situation where not only has Iran at this point, and it could change in an hour, okay, paralyzed us. But the anti-Semitism that you grew up with, and so did Trump in Queens, you know, I'm Levittown, I'm right down the street. Okay. That used to be under control in this city. That's why all the Jews came here.

Now it's out of control. Is that squarely on the progressive left? Bill? No. It started with the progressive left, but now the submissive moderates have jumped on board. And I tell you, I would never have believed this. You mentioned my father. God rest his soul, thank God he's not here to see this. The Jewish community was integral to New York. They started coming in 1640, 200 years before your people and my people even thought about it. Yes, we're the financial capital. They started finance for us. I have two Jewish brothers in law. We grew up together. How New York?

New York has the highest incidence of anti-Semitism in my lifetime, increasing exponentially. The ADL just did a report. It was 182% increase in January the month this mayor took office. This mayor ran basically saying, I associate with Hamas. And look, you want to be pro-Palestinian? God bless you. You want to say that Israel was hyper-aggressive. God bless you. But to then morph from I disagree with Israel to I'm anti-Semitic and I'm going to be hostile to

American Jewish people. How do you make that transition? And how do we allow it to happen? And now the Democrats, everybody's afraid because the pro-Palestinian support is very high. my Democratic primary, close to 70% of the people, pro-Palestinian, Israel has been hyper-aggressive. And that's why they voted for Mandani, one of the reasons. 100%. And he would not back up an inch. I'm pro-Israel. 100%. He would not back up an inch associated with guys like Hassan Piker, who said America deserved 9-11. which is the same theory that justifies Hamas raping Israelis in the settlement, right? You deserved it.

You deserved it. He didn't back away at all. Globalized the Intifada, which means kill all Jews. He would not condemn the phrase. Well, he didn't accept the law that would prevent people demonstrating. schools with... And think about that. He vetoed the buffer zone law.

The buffer zone law, which would make the city safer. Yes. But by the way, that was even a token. All the buffer zone law said, it was passed by the city council, you can't harass students going into a school in a way that could impede their entering the school. and the police will set a buffer zone that's appropriate. You can still protest, but you have to stay 50 feet away, 20 feet away.

You can't impede people going into school. He didn't want it. He vetoes that bill. Right. Why? First of all, it gave the police power, and part of the far left were anti-police, defund the police. Right. Police have too much power.

and it would curb protesters, maybe limit free speech. Which he didn't. You could still protest, curse, do whatever you want to do. You just couldn't harass, intimidate within that buffer zone to the school. And he vetoed it. You had two terrorists. Do you think he's an anti-Semite, Mandani? There you have to look into somebody's soul.

But is he anti-Israel? Yes. Does he associate with anti-Semitic people? Yes. Does he associate with pro-Hamas people? Yes. And has he done anything while this anti-Semitism is raging? And you have Jewish people in the city afraid to walk the streets?

Has he done anything to assuage that? No. Behind every F-35 jet is a Canadian company, horizontal tails built in Winnipeg, engine sensors from Ottawa, and stealth composite panels crafted in Loonenburg to name just a few. Thanks to thousands of skilled Canadian workers, the F-35 aircraft is delivering unmatched capabilities for 20 allied nations around the world and will generate more than $15.5 billion in industrial value for Canada. This ad is sponsored by the F-35 partner team, Lockheat Martin, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, and RTX. Learn more at www.f35.com slash Canada.

Dear Canadian exporters, our ambitions, our ideas, and our potential were never meant to be boxed in. Nothing can contain us. With the support of export development Canada's market insights and financial solutions, you can turn obstacles into opportunities, discover new markets, and keep our nation front and center on the global stage. The world needs more Canada. Together, let's give it to them. Visit edc.ca to learn more. It's pretty sad, that's for sure.

Let's face it, the U.S. economy is under stress. National debt rising, trade war, shaking the markets. And meanwhile, China is dumping the dollar and stockpiling gold. That's why I protected my savings with physical gold and silver through the only dealer I trust, American Hartford Gold. And you can do this. Get precious metals delivered to your door or place in a tax advantage gold IRA.

They'll even help you roll over your existing IRA or 401K, tax and penalty free. With billions in precious metals delivered thousands of five-star reviews and an A-plus from the Better Business Bureau, you can trust American Hartford Gold as I do. Please call 866-501, 5201, or text bill to 65532. Again, that's 866, 501, 5201,

or text bill to 65532. Now going back to your tenure as governor, one of the things that hurt you in the perception of Democrats, obviously you running in the primary and all of that, was the nursing home thing. Now, when I analyzed the story, it was chaos. And I'm being honest here.

I mean, I could have easily hammaged you like everybody else did, but it's not what we do here. But the amount of people with COVID who had nowhere to go was more than 100,000 in the city of 8.5 million. I mean, people didn't know where to go when they had the disease, so they wind up back in the in the nursing home, and then it spreads in there and you get killed. All right. Now, some of the prominent media came after you for that. What was your thought process while this was going on? Well, first, this was a case of first impression.

It was chaos. Ironically, when you look back, not ironically, sadly, January, February, March, the number of deaths from pneumonia spike. March, they diagnosed COVID. January, February, those were not pneumonia deaths. They were COVID, but the doctors didn't know there was any such thing as COVID. So it was chaos, because as soon as it hit in this city with this density was everywhere, immediately. No vaccines, no quarantine facilities. That's why I said the hantavirus reminds me.

They're trying to come up now with a test for the hantavirus. And they don't have one, by the way. Nebraska is working on one, which brought me right back to there was no test, et cetera. Also, it became very political, right? And the deaths in nursing homes became a political topic. but I'll give you one fact that'll blow your mind. All of said and done, this is now years, right? Five, six years. When you look at the final numbers, the percentage of death of people in nursing homes,

by the federal government, CDC, Republican administration, Democratic administration, after all the numbers of the talent, New York is number 38 in the country for a number of people who died in nursing homes. Number 38, which means 37 states had a higher rate of death in nursing homes, which is incredible, Bill, because we also had it first by surprise. The other states had noticed. They knew what was coming.

They watched us every day. But we were number 38. A lot of political noise, a lot of smoke. A lot of media. A lot of media. When the numbers come out, number 38. Would you have done anything differently? Oh, I would have done everything differently.

We were checking nobody at airports. We had no test. We had no quarantine facilities. We couldn't get masks. We were sending planes to China to buy masks. There was no laws that dealt with quarantine and hospitals, et cetera. Right. Everything.

It was a totally unique situation. Fauci a fraud? I think Fauci did the best with what he knew at the time. But he came across his going, I know everything. Well. Come on. You know he did. Well, I think, look, I think Fauci was acting on what he knew and he was trying to bring calm to the country.

I did those daily briefings. You had New Yorkers on the edge, Bill. And in a situation like this, the real enemy is panic, right? And New Yorkers were close to panic. So I did briefings every morning. and I slowed everybody down. Let me tell you where we are today. This is the number of infections today.

This is the number of lives lost today. This is what we learned today. Here's the information. And the information gives you a sense of control. You have some sense of control because you have the information. And I religiously did it every morning. I wasn't sleeping at night, but seven days it week I did it, just to give you that information, and here are the facts. They're not Democratic

facts, Republican facts. They're just facts. Yeah, but people believe what they want to believe. You know that. Well, in the beginning, before it became political, people, a party had nothing to do with it. No, people believe. But it became political real fast. It became political real fast because it was a presidential election year. And the Republicans were very nervous about getting getting blamed. And people started to say, well, where's the federal government taking control? Why are the governors in control? Why is Cuomont control in New York and Newsom in California? And everyone has to buy their own stuff and everyone has to come up with their own policy. Where's the federal government? That made a political in the election year. Republicans

pushed back and they said, it's the Democratic governors because the state. started in the Northeast. So it was New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania. It's the Democratic governors who are at fault, not the Republican. But nobody was at fault. I mean, it was what the public wanted was honesty. And when Fauci got into the Wuhan lab stuff, he came across as not being honest. Yeah. But it, look, nobody wanted politics. It always becomes political. Everybody's pointing the finger. Sure.

And COVID, months from an election, everybody was pointing the finger. Okay. My friends in American financing have a better way. They help homeowners tap into their equity to pay off high interest debt with mortgage rates currently in the fives. On average, customers save about $800 a month. That's nearly $10,000 a year. There are no upfront fees to talk to a salary-based mortgage consultant.

So, please start today, and you could even delay two mortgage payments. American financing, America's home for home loans, 888-462-957. 888-462-9557. Americanfinancing.net slash bill. Turning 65 years old, Medicare is a total headache. Between the fine print and the endless spam, easy to end up on a plan that drains your bank account while missing the coverage you actually need.

That is why we have partnered up with chapter. Unlike most, chapter advocates for you, not the insurance company. They've already helped hundreds of my listeners save thousands of dollars. One listener, Mark, called his consultation absolutely spectacular, wondering how any company could be that efficient?

They are the only advisors who compare every plan nationwide, and they will review your best options all in under 20 minutes. Best. Chapter is a free resource for my audience. Please give Chapter a call today. Speak with a license advisor.

Feel confident in your Medicare coverage. This is a difficult question for me to ask you, but I think it's a valid question. So if your father were still alive, and he was watching you get hosed by the far left, which kind of destroyed your political, career at that time. What advice do you think

he would have given you? Did you ever think about that question? Because you're probably one of the smartest politicians ever. Sure. Look, he was a man of tremendous principle. Didn't really give a damn for the politics of the moment.

He was about principle. And there is nothing that this far left is talking about, Bill. that he would adhere to or I would adhere to. So I was not even the trans playing sports against girls and stuff. I was not taking a step back. I was not taking, look, these, first of all, this is all political symbolism.

This new mayor, he doesn't know anything about government. There's no government here. There's no professionalism here. He was a two-term legislator that never showed up for work. He's never managed the candy store, right? This is all political symbolism. I'm a socialist. We're no kings.

We're going to take the money from the rich. I'm going to give you free groceries and free buses and everything free. It's all political BS. And no, no, he would, I would not be his son. He probably disowned me if I would. were to capitulate to that. So it would have said fight it out, slug it out.

Fight it out, you lose, you lose. But you fight it out. And that's what I did. And again, my record, you want to talk progressive, what a progressive originally meant, they're not progressives. Well, Theodore Roosevelt was the original progressive.

Yes, and then FDR, for progressive, I have one of the original posters, FDR, for progressive government. Yes, nobody was more progressive than me. Nobody was more advanced civil rights, civil liberties. Nobody was more activist as a governor. Look what I accomplished, right? Things that nobody wanted to go near. New LaGuardia Airport.

Worst airport in the United States of America, but nobody did a damn thing. New airport. a new Moynihan train hall after 30 years. Rehab, the part of Penn that goes to the Long Island Railroad. You're a Long Island guy. New third track for the Long Island Railroad. Why? Because there were only two tracks for the Long Island Railroad.

But that's nuts and bolts. I mean, you know, look, the bigger picture is that, and you spotlighted it a few minutes ago, this is the ultimate power game. are no rules in this game. All right. You've got the media, which is a player now. They think they can shape the votes of people. Both sides, both right wing and left wing media, and they play to their choir. Okay? And they boom, boom, boom, boom, don't matter of true. They're just going to put it out there. And then you get the money man. The guy looking for advantage to make big money in Manhattan. You know, Mandani's going up against them now. And, you know,

all going blank you or going to Florida. Okay, then what? Okay, who's going to pay the taxes? Okay, Mandani doesn't think that far ahead. He looks to me like he governs from day to day, whatever emotion of the day is that he wax in there. But when you have that deterioration of the political process, and believe me, we have it now.

We are in a deteriorating country as far as politics are concerned. The rules are changed. Your father might not even get elected now, okay? Because he's not an ideology. He's not going in there trying to serve one constituency. You know, he wanted to make things better. But if you do that, you come up against the powerful vested interests. Look at New York Times.

They think they're kinmakers, right? Okay. What's their latest? Their latest is that Jews are raping Arabs? That's what we got now. Yeah. But look, this goes back to your first point, Bill. What they are doing is hurtful to the state of New York.

We are hemorrhaging jobs. We are hemorrhaging wealth. Yeah, chasing the big boys out of here. You're chasing not only the big boys out, but the taxes are so high. You're chasing middle class people out. Oh, sure. And they're going to Florida, they're going to Texas, they're going to North Carolina. You're chasing the jobs out.

This division and partisanship is a cancer. It is driving the extremes politically, because let's be honest, politics, for a politician, it's easier to spin the negative than the positive. It's easier to spin hate and combat. So you have the Democrats demonizing the Republicans, the Republicans, demonizing, more and more polarization. And then you have the press, which is a player, and they're playing the same game,

which is you listen to MS now, Trump is the devil, you listen to Fox, you get a totally different story. So, yes, you're putting a cleaver down this country that is pushing us to an, irreparable abyss. And the redistricting is going to make it permanent in a way that will be irreversible. But that's not going to work because of the skin color aspect. Do you think President Trump should tone it down? I think President Trump is looking at a midterm. I think the midterm is going to be problematic for the Republicans.

historically. So he's got to ratchet it up. No. I think part of what is going to hurt the Republicans, it's going to be Iran, it's going to be gas, it's going to be all those symptomatic issues. But, and you're a student of history, which I appreciate, this country has always been skeptical of overly powerful government and autocratic government and feels more comfortable with a balance of power. Trump, our strength is our weakness. He is so dominant, so dominant, rolls the Republicans, there are no Democrats. It's Trump 24 hours a day. I think the Democrats are going to say, people, the country is going to say, let's bring some balance here. Let's reduce the drama. There's too much drama. I have to live my life, Bill. I don't want to wake up every month.

morning having to worry about who we bombed. But people are entrenched. They are entrenched in their views of the country and politics. Now, I'm going to take a time out here. Our concierge members and premium members are going to get another 10, 15 minutes of killing time. We appreciate all of you around the world watching we'll do it live and we'll be back in a moment with killing time