SYRACUSE, N.Y. — President Trump said Friday that he would move quickly to help Bruce Blakeman lower energy costs, combat crime and address illegal immigration in New York if voters elect the Republican gubernatorial candidate over Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in November.
Speaking before a packed crowd in Syracuse, Trump accused Hochul and other Democrats of making New York a symbol of soaring costs, crime, corruption and policies that, he said, are driving businesses, jobs and wealth out of the state.
Trump urged voters to “clean house” in Albany on Nov. 3, beginning with Hochul’s removal from office.
He also cited what he described as alarming figures involving migrant criminals arrested in New York, claiming that Hochul’s administration had released them back into communities where they could endanger residents.
“In less than two years, New York has released criminal illegal aliens with charges and convictions for over 48,000 crimes,” Trump said. He alleged that those cases included 8,600 assaults, 1,600 robberies, as well as thousands of rapes, kidnappings and murders.
Trump argued that Democratic sanctuary policies put the safety of innocent New Yorkers at risk.
The president praised ICE agents involved in Thursday’s shooting of Oscar Belgal, whom Trump identified as a suspected migrant gang member. He described Belgal as a highly dangerous man with an extensive criminal history who was wanted in connection with a possible murder and gang activity.
Trump said immigration officers deserved recognition rather than criticism from New York politicians, whom he accused of allowing Belgal to remain free.
He told the audience that electing Blakeman, along with a Republican Congress, would enable the administration to prohibit sanctuary cities and states and prevent undocumented criminal suspects from being released into local communities.
Trump pledged that if Blakeman became governor and called for help in New York City or other dangerous areas of the state, he would respond within 24 hours.
With Blakeman in the governor’s office, Trump predicted New York could go from experiencing high crime to having “almost no crime at all” within two months, pointing to his claimed results in Washington, D.C., Memphis and New Orleans.
Trump also focused heavily on New York’s electricity costs, criticizing Hochul while promising that a Blakeman administration could reduce household energy bills by as much as 90%.
“Your energy bills are the highest in the nation,” Trump told the crowd. He said Blakeman could move New York from the top of that ranking to among the states with the lowest costs by tapping the state’s oil resources.
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Trump claimed New York sits atop some of the world’s largest oil reserves but argued that state policies prevent residents from using them.
If elected, Blakeman would cut electricity bills by 70%, 80% or even 90%, Trump predicted.
The campaign rally took place at Syracuse OneCenter, a large convention facility in the heart of the city.
Trump opened his remarks by telling the enthusiastic crowd that he was pleased to return to upstate New York.
He drew loud applause when he referred to Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” a name he has promoted as a proposed renaming of the Great Lake.
Boxing icon Mike Tyson and New York Yankees President Randy Levine accompanied Trump aboard Air Force One for the trip to Syracuse.
“He’s a very dangerous person, actually,” Trump said of Tyson, drawing a reaction from the audience.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and New York GOP Reps. Claudia Tenney and Nick Langworthy also traveled with Trump on the presidential plane.
Ahead of the president’s speech, Blakeman warmed up the crowd by pledging that New York would be opened up to fracking and cease being a “sanctuary state” if elected.
“We’ve got to tap into that Marcellus Shale. It’s drill baby drill,” Blakeman said.
The Nassau County executive slammed Hochul as “the most pro-criminal governor in America” and said Albany policies like cashless bail and sanctuary cities are “all designed to let criminals get out and suffer no consequences for committing crimes in our communities.”
He also blamed Hochul for Thursday’s ICE shooting in the Bronx for allowing “illegal migrants with criminal records to prey on the people of our state,” Blakeman said.
“He tried to run the ICE agents over,” Blakeman continued. “Kathy Hochul, we’re outraged that you would let this guy into our state and defend him.”
Blakeman received thunderous applause when he vowed to sign an executive action declaring, “New York is no longer a sanctuary state,” if he beats Hochul.
