The ever outspoken Mayor Bloomberg had some choice words about the gubernatorial campaign of a certain Republican hopeful from upstate.
Mayor Bloomberg was asked by the Wall Street Journal about a pledge Buffalo conservative Carl Paladino had released stating he vowed to use eminent domain to prevent the building of a Muslim cultural center and mosque just blocks from the World Trade Center site.
"Huh? He's not going to get elected, so let's go on to the other topic. This city is built on openness and tolerance. We are not walking away from that, no matter who is governor," retorted the mayor.
The Paladino people quickly commented on the mayor’s position.
“Carl’s got a lot of respect for Mike Bloomberg as a businessman and as a mayor, but he thinks the mayor is wrong on this one," said Paladino Campaign Manager Michael Caputo. "We believe the mayor should get outside of Manhattan more often because he would get a better grasp of just how opposed New Yorkers across the state are to this mosque. I don't think the Mayor's people are fully vetting the finances of this thing and it looks likely to come back and bite him with his constituents."
Bloomberg’s comments come after a press conference earlier this week in which he defended Andrea Batista, a mayoral aide, after she tweeted an opinionated response to former Alaskan Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s tweet on the mosque.
Paladino this week forced a Republican primary with Rick Lazio after filing a petition with 28,000 signatures with the New York State Board of Elections. The developer needed only 15,000 signatures.
The two will square off in the Republican primary in September 14th. The winner gets to go up against Democratic heavyweight Andrew Cuomo, who is setting fund raising records across the state.
