Governor Andrew Cuomo Calls Donald Trump’s Move To Defund Democratic Cities “Illegal”

Donald Trump likes to argue against defunding the police, but he apparently sees no issue with defunding entire American cities.

The New York Times writes:

Mr. Trump laid out the directive in a memo, released Wednesday, to Russell T. Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Attorney General William P. Barr. It accuses state and local officials of abdicating their duties.

“Anarchy has recently beset some of our states and cities,” Mr. Trump wrote in the memo, mentioning a few cities specifically: Portland, Ore.; Washington; Seattle; and the president’s birth city, New York. “My administration will not allow federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones.”

Slate opines, “The real point of the memo is for Trump to sow division between his decidedly non-urban, white political base and the other two-thirds of the country.” 

To no one’s surprise, Trump’s threat received immediate pushback with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio writing:

He’s making unconstitutional, political threats against us. Mr. President, we’ll see you in court. We’ve beaten you there before and we’ll do it again.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan responded as well saying, “This is the latest attempt to distract from the fact that COVID-19 has infected over 6 million Americans, killed 185,000 people, and destroyed the American economy. The only anarchy zone in America, where the rule of law is disregarded, is at the White House.”

Watch more from ABC News above.