Gov. Cuomo and his GOP challenger Marc Molinaro squared off in their first and likely only debate on Tuesday — with the Republican accusing the governor of running a corrupt administration and the incumbent accusing his opponent of being tight with President Trump.
The one-hour showdown, which was broadcast statewide Tuesday night, was marked by nasty exchanges, repeated interruptions and personal invective.
“Governor, you have led the most corrupted state government in America. Eight individuals closely associated with your administration are now going to jail or gone to jail for federal corruption charges. At what point, after eight years of being in office, do you take responsibility?” demanded Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive.
“People in my administration made a mistake and they went to jail,” Cuomo responded, referring to a pay-to-play scandal but adding that no one had accused him of wrongdoing.
The governor then turned the tables and accused Molinaro of corruption, mentioning a job his wife had gotten with a contractor doing business with Dutchess County.
“It’s your family member putting money in your pocket. This is a bribe or a kickback that you took,” Cuomo charged.
“It’s not. Sir, it is not. It’s been demonstrably proven false. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” came back an angry Molinaro.
Things went downhill quickly, with the moderators trying to maintain order as Cuomo and Molinaro shouted over each other about the MTA, Trump, pay-to-play, state spending and a taxpayer-subsidized stadium for the Buffalo Bills.
The pair interrupted moderators and shouted over each other so often that at one point WCBS-TV’s Marcia Kramer warned Cuomo: “Don’t make me punch you out.”
The sorry state of the MTA finances and performance provided ready ammunition for Molinaro.
“The governor’s abandoned responsibility for the MTA and we’ve seen it in the total death spiral over the last several years, with on-time rates declining, with those living with disabilities not being able to access subway platforms,” the Republican charged.
“Obviously, there’s going to be waste and abuse in these programs,” Cuomo admitted, while blaming his opponent for voting down MTA spending while in the state Assembly.
Cuomo denied that he had not taken charge of the problem, at first saying: “I have no problem ducking responsibility.”
He corrected the gaffe minutes later.
“You have never seen a governor take more responsibility for the MTA than I have,” Cuomo said.
He also rejected Molinaro’s charge that the governor’s ongoing feud with Mayor de Blasio is hurting New Yorkers.
“We’re going to have a plate of pasta, we’re going to have a bottle of wine, we’re going to talk about it. The mayor was with me election night, so everything is lovey-dovey,” Cuomo claimed.
The governor at one point hectored Molinaro on his supposed connections to Trump.
“Do you support Donald Trump?” Cuomo shouted over and over.
Molinaro wouldn’t answer directly and asked the moderators to move on, but did say he supported anyone who invested in New York as he defended the president.
“Your private law firm represented Mr. Trump and his real- estate interest before state agencies while your father was governor. You accepted $60,000 from Donald Trump and haven’t returned it,” Molinaro said.
“You, sir, had him at your bachelor party, I didn’t,’’ Molinaro added.
Team Cuomo insisted later that Trump did not appear in person at the bachelor party, but that a video including him was shown at the event.
Molinaro also accused Cuomo of stacking the corruption-fighting Joint Commission on Public Ethics with cronies, reducing its effectiveness.
And he slammed Cuomo for shutting down a commission to investigate corruption in Albany.
“The governor established a Moreland Commission to root out corruption, and when it found out what was going on in his own administration, he canned it,” Molinaro said.
Cuomo had a ready answer, saying he was the subject of “a two-year investigation and every US attorney said I had nothing to do with anything,” referring to the bribery conviction of his one-time top aide and friend Joe Percoco.
“This isn’t about Joe Percoco, this is about you. And me. No one is saying I did anything wrong,” Cuomo shouted back.
Cuomo, who’s leading by more than 20 points in the polls, agreed to the debate only after The Post repeatedly portrayed him in a chicken outfit.
The League of Women Voters has scheduled another debate on Nov. 1 for all five gubernatorial candidates. Four have accepted.
Cuomo has not.