Democratic N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not confirm or deny his intentions to run against President Donald Trump in 2020, but he did take shots at the president, suggesting Sunday the president's lack of political experience has proven to be his shortcoming.
"I don't believe in rhetorical, theoretical leadership," Gov. Cuomo told "The Cats Roundtable" on 970 AM-N.Y. "It's either experience and accomplished, or it's not. And this nation shouldn't just take a chance that maybe a person will grow into the role. People don't grow that much when you get old in life.
"It is going to be a very important call for the Democratic Party. And who they pick, and how, and why is a very important conversation."
Cuomo told host John Catsimatidis he is "focused on the governorship" of New York, while laying out all of his Democratic accomplishments and saying the party should pick someone not solely on what they say but also on what they have done.
"It's important for the Democratic Party to understand and focus on what they do to pick a candidate," Cuomo told Catsimatidis. "What do you look for? I like to say there is a rhetorical school and a reality-based school. Some people think the candidate should be picked just because of what they say . . . I think we should rely on the reality-based school, which says, 'Let me understand what you'd like to do and then, by the way, what should make me believe that you can actually do it? What is your experience? Have you managed? What's your leadership ability?'"
In touting his experience, Gov. Cuomo suggested nominating someone less experienced is a recipe for failure.
"Only in politics do we say, 'Here is a person who's never managed anything – here is a person has never actually produced anything – but we're going to elect them,'" Cuomo said.
"And then we're surprised when the person can't manage, even though they had no experience whatsoever. I think that discussion for the Democratic Party is good. I had a very big victory, I think, based on my performance as governor . . . and we're the progressive capital of the country."
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