A former Democratic governor of New York praised Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott for sending busloads of illegal immigrants to New York City, calling it “one of the most brilliant political strategies I’ve heard in a long time.”
Former New York Governor David Patterson, the first legally blind person to be sworn in as governor of a U.S. state who succeeded Eliot Spitzer after Spitzer resigned in 2008, spoke on WABC 770’s “Cats Roundtable.”
“The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has come up with [what] I think is one of the most brilliant political strategies I’ve heard in a long time,” Patterson admitted. “Now, I’m a Democrat and there are a lot of things I don’t like about what he’s really doing. However, sometimes you have to tip your cap to your opponent, and in this case, he is sending hundreds of aliens who come into the country by bus to New York City, which is a sanctuary city, [and it] has really paid dividends to him politically.”
“In addition, it puts New York’s Mayor Eric Adams in the position where he can’t say he won’t accept the immigrants because that will be going against what has been the policy most Democrats have about immigration in the first place,” Patterson pointed out.
“But also, if you send the immigrants back to Texas, he is, in a sense, going against his own attempt to get the federal government to help pay for the fact that they’re here,” Patterson said of Adams. “So I don’t Mayor Adams is being hurt in this process at all, but I think nationally, it’s an amazing plan to focus people on the whole immigration process.”
Adams has attacked Abbott for sending the illegal immigrants, as The Daily Wire previously reported. Adams claimed that “for the good of America,” Abbott should be rejected by Texas voters in November’s gubernatorial election. “I’ve already called all my friends in Texas, and told them how to cast their vote,” he pontificated. “I am deeply contemplating taking a busload of New Yorkers to go to Texas and do some good old-fashioned door-knocking.”
“It is unimaginable what the governor of Texas has done,” Adams raged. “When you think about this country, a country that has always been open to those who are fleeing persecution and other intolerable conditions. We’ve always welcomed that. And this governor is not doing that in Texas.”
Abbott wasn’t reticent about slamming Adams as he snapped, “What’s horrific is the thousands of illegal immigrants overrunning and overwhelming our border communities with populations smaller than a New York City borough, and Mayor Adams is hypocritically upset about welcoming a few dozen into his sanctuary city. These migrants willingly chose to go to New York City, having signed a voluntary consent waiver, available in multiple languages, upon boarding that they agreed on the destination.”
“If the mayor wants a solution to this crisis, he should call on President Biden to take immediate action to secure the border-something the President continues failing to do,” he continued. “The Biden administration is allowing historic levels of illegal immigrants, weapons, and deadly drugs like fentanyl to surge into our state and dumping migrants in our border towns with little to no help provided.”
Related: Eric Adams Is ‘Deeply Contemplating’ Taking New Yorkers To Texas To Get Back At Greg Abbott
Tim Meads contributed to this report.