Cuomo rips Trump over baseless conspiracy theory tweet about Buffalo protester
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo delivers his daily Coronavirus briefing in New York City on June 8, 2020. (Kevin P. Coughlin//Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)
ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo tore into President Trump Tuesday for pushing an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory about a 75-year-old Buffalo protester shoved to the ground by police.
“There’s no fact to any of it,” the governor said of a tweet sent out by the president earlier in the day that cast doubt on the injuries sustained by Martin Gugino.
“He should apologize for that tweet. How reckless, how mean, how cruel,” Cuomo added.
Trump, citing a report from the conservative news network OANN, said the incident caught on video could be a “set up.” He also said, without any evidence, that Gugino “could be” an anarchist or “provocateur.”
“I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?” the President tweeted.
Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?
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A pair of Buffalo police officers have been suspended and charged with assault for pushing Gugino to the sidewalk. In the video, blood can be seen seeping from Gugino’s head as he lays motionless on the pavement.
“What did he think it was staged? He thought the blood coming out of his head was staged?” Cuomo fumed during a press briefing in Valhalla, Westchester County, calling Trump’s conspiracy theory “reprehensible and dumb.”
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