“You Were Wrong!” New York Assemblyman Calls Out Cuomo at State of the State Address
Andrew Cuomo didn’t get far into his state of the state address this afternoon before the heckling began. The New York governor had spoken for about 10 minutes before assemblyman Charles Barron’s impassioned voice could be heard shouting at him on TV broadcasts.
“You were wrong!” Barron shouted. “Everybody heard you. Have a seat, assemblyman,” Cuomo shot back.
[There was a video here]
The content of Barron’s remarks is hard to parse over Cuomo’s speech and the ensuing roar of the crowd, but according to public radio reporter Karen DeWitt, he was upset over Albany’s failure to comply with a court order to increase funding to school districts.
Barron, who was led out, is upset over failure of state to obey court order to fully fund schools
— Karen DeWitt (@kdewitt7) January 13, 2016
Barron, who is no stranger to provocation, was escorted out, at which point Cuomo ratcheted up the rhetoric. “We refuse to be shouted down,” he said, to wildly escalating cheers. “We said we are New Yorkers first, and we’re going to come together and we’re going to kick the extremists to the side.”
