Hochul says Republican crime concerns are a ‘conspiracy’

Gov. Kathy Hochul claimed worries about crime ahead of the midterm elections were a “conspiracy,” and said her opponent Lee Zeldin and other Republican critics were “data deniers.”

Hochul made the comments on MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation” Sunday, as her lead in polls slips amid fear of rampant crime, according to Mediaite.

“These are master manipulators. They have this conspiracy going all across America trying to convince people in Democratic states that they’re not as safe. Well guess what? They’re also not only election deniers, they’re data deniers,” she told host Rev. Al Sharpton.

“Safer places are the Democratic states,” she claimed.

Murders were down by 14% in New York City compared with last year, but all other major crimes were up — including a 33% rise in robberies, police statistics show.

Hochul enjoys a seven-point lead over Zeldin, who has represented the eastern end of Long Island in the House, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Her lead had shrunk from a nearly twenty-point margin over the summer as Zeldin focused his campaign messaging on crime.

Hochul, the former lieutenant governor from Western New York who was elevated to governor when Andrew Cuomo resigned last year, downplayed concerns about crime and bail reform in the lone debate she agreed to.

On MSNBC Sunday, she questioned her opponent’s commitment to safety in the state amid his opposition to gun control measures.

[He] “doesn’t support a single one of our gun safety measures and thing that the way to get people safe in New York is to arm our teachers. Now that’s, that’s next level,” she said.

“We can not be arming our teachers, we have to get the guns off the street, something Lee Zeldin refuses to do.”