Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul is a Guest on Bloomberg TV

Earlier today, Governor Hochul was a guest on Bloomberg TV.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.

A rush transcript is available below:

David Gura, Bloomberg: Thanks to both of you and welcome to our audience on radio and TV worldwide. Governor Hochul, thank you very much for being here.

Governor Hochul: Thanks for having me.

David Gura, Bloomberg: So let’s talk about - l let me start first though with what's in the news - a torrent of headlines about President Biden's viability as a candidate. The Washington Post reporting this morning that President Obama has expressed concern about the viability of his campaign. I think of you as such a stalwart supporter of President Biden. You came out and said that, reiterated that after the debate performance. Has anything changed in these recent days as you've seen the political terrain shift a bit?

Governor Hochul: What I said when I met the President, literally the day after his debate, he was here in New York City, had a rally, a lot of energy, and then a few days later all the governors gathered in Washington to meet the President at the White House and ask him some tough questions about that performance and where he goes from there. When he said he is in it to win it, he is going the distance, he is the duly nominated candidate for President from the Democratic Party. Once he said he's in, my view is he's going to be in. He's staying. As long as he's staying in this race, I am with him. He has delivered for New York in extraordinary ways. I look forward to talking about even more. And I believe in his vision for our country. So I am with him as long as he wants to do this and he's been an extraordinary President.

David Gura, Bloomberg: So much of the reporting has centered on conversations that leaders in Congress have reportedly had with President Biden. We're fortunate two of them are New Yorkers - Leader Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the Minority Leader in the House. Have you talked to them about this? Have you registered your feelings to them in conversation?

Governor Hochul: We have conversations all the time, but when people say they're having private conversations, whether it's with me or the President, then private means something. You don't divulge the contents. I won't be talking about my conversations, but they know as the leader of the State of New York, I have many priorities, but one on the political side is wearing my hat as the head of the Democratic Party to make sure that the path to Hakeem Jeffries becoming the Speaker of the House of Representatives goes right through New York State. Battleground areas like Long Island, where I just was this week, up to the Hudson Valley and over to Syracuse. So I have dedicated an enormous amount of my energy on making sure that we take back the House because I'm a former member of Congress. I served in the minority. And the representatives we have now, who are in the majority, are not giving New Yorkers what they need, and we need to change that dynamic.

David Gura, Bloomberg: So much of the concern that I hear from analysts, but politicians as well, is what this means for candidates down ballot. So let me have you talk a bit more about that. Are you hearing any word, any concern from local political offices, from candidates about how this uncertainty, this vacuum that has opened up since that debate is affecting the viability of candidates running for Congress, running for other office?

Governor Hochul: I will say this, having been elected in the most Republican district in the entire State of New York, I know that every district has unique characteristics. The issues are different. You cannot take a broad brush and say whatever happens at the top of the ticket will filter down individually. A lot of it's personality driven, a lot of it's accomplishment driven. So I think that you cannot possibly do that.

But I think there'll be high turnout in our State. I really do. I believe that this is going to create some energy and excitement and the people who've been loyal to the President from the beginning and districts where they carry by 20 percent on Long Island will still be there for Joe Biden and our congressional candidates as well.

So everybody's talking about everything, but what we're not talking about enough is Donald Trump as a threat to this country. I want to shift the conversation from Democrats who are doing what they're doing and Democrats have always been an unwieldy bunch. We used to talk about this when I worked during the Ronald Reagan, Tip O'Neill era as a congressional staffer for Senator Moynihan. Democrats are always a little more rough and tumble with our own. But we do line up and get behind our candidates and that's what I'm expecting to see behind Joe Biden.

David Gura, Bloomberg: As the Governor, you have to plan for both outcomes, either a Biden re-election victory or Donald Trump winning the election. Let me ask you about that latter scenario, if the past is prologue – there were difficulties that the State had when it came to funding, when it came to policies. What worries you the most about the prospects of that happening, and how do you think through those eventualities?

Governor Hochul: No, we're always prepared, but infrastructure is critically important. You can proclaim that you're the infrastructure President, not do anything other than issue a press release, or you can actually be the infrastructure President, which is why New York City benefits from Gateway Tunnel, for example, the largest public project done by the federal government in its history. And also, private investment, Upstate New York — Donald Trump did not deliver Micron to the State of New York. It was the climate that Joe Biden created in saying, “We need incentives to draw the semiconductor industry back from South Asia, and plant it right here in the United States.”

And I, as Governor, was able to deliver it for the State of New York with our own incentives. So, that kind of partnership, that relationship, has — that's the largest private sector investment in American history, the largest federal government investment in American history going on simultaneously here in the State of New York.

So, I'm going to continue marching with Joe Biden. If it is not him, those are areas where I'm concerned: the investments in our economy, the job creation initiatives, the workforce development - but also the major infrastructure which creates tens of thousands of good paying jobs in our State.

David Gura, Bloomberg: You bring up infrastructure, let me use that to segue to the latest polling. I should note your approval rating is low - 38 percent - the lowest it's been. But there is a bright light, I think you would say, in that polling when it comes to the decision that you made at the 11th hour to put a hold on congestion pricing in New York. 45 percent of voters in New York agree with that decision. A pause is inherently temporary. What is it going to take? What will make you lift that pause, potentially?

Governor Hochul: The pause is in place because the world has radically changed since congestion pricing was first initiated in 2019. Inflation is a factor that's affecting New York families when you live in the City, suburbs — whatever.

We have to not be tone deaf to New Yorkers who are saying, “$15 to come into the City right now when I'm a teacher? I'm a firefighter?” $3,800 more a year to work in Manhattan. It's a great place to work, but that's an extra penalty of being a New York City worker -

David Gura, Bloomberg: If it were lower, would that be more appealing to you?

Governor Hochul: There's other ways to deal with this. I will continue supporting the infrastructure projects that were contemplated to be funded by congestion pricing. And those who say I will not, will soon see, I know what I'm talking about. We'll be talking about this more throughout the rest of this year. Nothing can really happen until the Legislature is back, but it doesn't mean that we won't have a path forward that addresses congestion, that addresses funding for MTA projects and looks at the structure of congestion pricing - and there are other models. In London, they started, for example, at 5 pounds - not 15. It takes time. So, I just can't do that to the hard-working New Yorkers. They want relief, they want someone who actually listens to them, and that's exactly what I did.

David Gura, Bloomberg: Do you regret how this happened? I've talked to a lot of people who say you didn't telegraph this. This wasn't even something that a lot of people thought could be on the table, that you could put this pause in place at a very late hour when everyone going back to 2019 thought it was going to happen. Do you regret the way that it came out and the surprise that it had?

Governor Hochul: When I reflect back, I would simply say this: there has been a strong reaction by those who have the microphone. The individuals in certain media, for example, and voices that are very strong here from the Legislature in the City.

But what we're not hearing from what I hear that others are not listening to are the health care workers who are so grateful. The hotel workers who gave me a standing ovation because they don't now have to pay almost $4,000 a year. The police officers, firefighters - there are countless - the pizza delivery guy. The owner of Patsy's Pizza gave me a hug and said thank you because everything would get pushed down to the sewer and prices would have gone up.

So, I will say this, if there was a way to mobilize those voices and give the other perspective and have media talk about those who simply say we finally have a Governor who pays attention, even at my own political cost, yes, it was hard to do. But I also said “I do not want to wake up the day after and wish I had done something to relieve New Yorkers pain" and that is real. So, that is the only issue I would say we could have had more of the support that I know is there. We had nine lawsuits opposing this. So, at any point any of them could have been successful and that would have been the death knell of congestion pricing right there. I put in a pause. I did not kill it. I put in a pause to consider the path forward at this time.

David Gura, Bloomberg: There was some speculation that you did this because there was concern about the down ballot races we were talking about before, that you were receiving some pushback or some encouragement not to do this. Any truth to that?

Governor Hochul: People can always speculate about my motivation. But they ought to know, I come from a blue-collar community. I know what it's like when you're worried about – are you going to be able to send your kids to college and pick up the groceries and pay your medical bills. That's real for a lot of New Yorkers.

And whether they're from Staten Island or coming in from Nassau or coming in from the Bronx, it's real. So, we will continue focusing on the objectives that are behind congestion pricing. And they are meritorious, and I support them. But let's just give New Yorkers a break.

David Gura, Bloomberg: My last question is going back to the political terrain here in this State. I've been watching the Republican National Convention. Congresswoman Stefanik made the assertion that New York could go red. She's seeing the terrain change dramatically in New York State. Is that something with which you agree, and I wonder if looking back on the race that you ran in 2022, you're not up for re-election this year. As you look ahead to 2024, 2026, are there lessons to be learned from the race that you ran, which I think was a lot closer than, dare I say, you might have expected, and a lot of people expected.

Governor Hochul: And you look at the unique circumstances of that race. I became governor and had a run instantaneously. A year later, I was already up on the ballot. So, people did not have a chance to get to know me. And there were strong campaign forces that tried to paint me with all the crimes that were happening in the State of New York.

And the ads were so absurd that they actually showed crimes that have been committed a decade earlier in California in ads saying Kathy Hochul is keeping you unsafe or Kathy Hochul supports criminals. It was crazy how successfully the Republicans weaponized that issue against someone who's married to a federal prosecutor.

My son's a federal prosecutor, and I've always stood strongly with funding and supporting our police and my record shows that. So, that's the only take away from that. That was a unique circumstance. They were able to paint me a certain way because New Yorkers didn't know me yet. And now they're able to see what I've accomplished.

So, we will not be going red as much as everybody at that convention would love to see it. It's not happening.

David Gura, Bloomberg: Governor, great to see you.

Governor Hochul: Thank you very much.

David Gura, Bloomberg: Governor Kathy Hochul, the 57th Governor of the State of New York.