Kenneth Langone has issued a statement apologizing for his comments linking the progressive’s strategy to fight income inequality to Nazi Germany.
“My remarks were intended to discourage pitting one group against another group in a society. If my choice of words was inappropriate — and they well may have been that — I extend my profound apologies to anyone and everyone who I may have offended,” Langone said in the statement.
His comments to Politico set off criticism and calls for Cuomo to repudiate the comments and even return the money Langone has donated and raised for him.
Cuomo and his aides so far have been silent. UPDATED: Cuomo spokesman Matt Wing says, Langone “apologized for using inappropriate words.”
Langone had said he hopes the left’s class arguments aren’t working. “Because if you go back to 1933, with different words, this is what Hitler was saying in Germany. You don’t survive as a society if you encourage and thrive on envy or jealousy,” he told Politico.
Our Annie Karni reports that Mayor de Blasio dismissed Langone’s comments as “over the top” while defending the fight against income inequality..
“At a certain point some comments are just hard to take on face value,” he said. “I respect people have different viewpoints. I pride myself with being able to work with a wide range of people. but let’s face it– if you’re focused on fighting inequality, some people are not going to like that. I’m convinced that people of the city understand we can’t continue on that path for long….Maybe some other people prefer the status quo. i don’t.”
He also took a pass when asked if Cuomo should have responded.
“i think every leader reserves the right to speak to some issues and not speak to others,” de Blasio said. “Again, I think the comment was obviously over the top to say the least, so I think it’s perfectly appropriate if someone doesn’t want to speak to that.”
