Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul is a Guest on MSNBC’s The Weekend

Earlier today, Governor Hochul was a guest on MSNBC's The Weekend.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Symone Sanders Townsend, MSNBC: New York Governor, Governor Kathy Hochul, joins us now. Greetings, Madam Governor.

Governor Hochul: Good morning.

Alicia Menendez, MSNBC: Governor, good to see you. You were with the President a day after his debate performance. Did you see anything that made you question the viability of his candidacy?

Governor Hochul: Let me give you my perspective. I've been an elected official for 30 years. I've served at every level of government, from town, county, congress, and now statewide. I've been in countless debates with the intense scrutiny of the toughest media market in the country. You can have a rough night, you can have a bad night, but the morning after defines you. And what I saw less than 24 hours after the performance the night before, was Joe Biden himself, at his best, energetic, fully alert, and conversational. We talked about some policies that were important afterwards. And so, one bad night does not affect three and a half years of stellar accomplishment, and I'm really excited about the next four years ahead as well.

Michael Steele, MSNBC: Governor, you know, there's just a lot of noise within the Democratic Party now, and so it's important to have voices like yours and others that are trying to clarify. What are you hearing from other governors - other Democratic Governors, members of your delegation, for the House and Senate. Are they looking to ride or die with Joe Biden as Republicans are riding and certainly have killed themselves over Donald Trump? What are you hearing beyond just, you know, that New York event?

Governor Hochul: I'll tell you something I've learned a long time ago, Michael. You tune out the chattering class, the inside, the beltway - and I used to be in Congress, I know what this is all about - editorial boards, everybody pontificating that they know the answers. I know the answers and Americans know the answer.

When the contrast comes down to this November, between a good, decent man with a long history of public service that's making the lives of Americans better, versus a convicted convict who guarantees us more corruption and chaos and a constitutional crisis - we're going to be just fine, because Americans will realize that that is a difference that defines us for the next five generations, what we do this November. So, regardless of what people are saying, I say to my friends who are Democrats: wake up today, start with the plan, get back on the team and march forward to victory. Because we have the best candidate running right now, and that is President Joe Biden.

Symone Sanders Townsend, MSNBC: Governor, one of the issues that is definitely animating this election and one of the, you know, reasons I have heard cited from a number of individuals as to why this is quite possibly the most - one of the most - important elections of our lifetime, has to do with the issue of abortion.

And, you know, the AP has - reporting how the headline talks about the anti-abortion movement is making a very big play to thwart citizen initiatives on reproductive rights in New York. You moved very swiftly. The AP goes on to note that reeling from a string of defeats, anti-abortion groups and their Republican allies and state governments are using an array of strategies to counter-proposed ballot initiatives intended to protect reproductive rights or prevent voters from having a say in the fall elections.

How secure is access to, you know, women's ability to make decisions about their own body? How secure is that protection in New York given the climate that we're currently in?

Governor Hochul: Well, as the first woman Governor, I can tell you this: these are rights that my mother's generation fought for, my generation took for granted, my daughter's generation has lost, and my granddaughter's generation deserves to have them back.

So, this is deeply personal as the birthplace of the women's rights movement here in New York. So, we are enshrining these rights this November on the ballot in our own Equal Rights Amendment. We're allowing voters to write on making sure these rights are enshrined in our State's constitution. And every time there's been a ballot initiative regarding abortion rights across this country - even in red states - when Americans have the choice, they want the right to have an abortion.

It is a fundamental right of a woman to determine what happens to your body. And as the stories of young girls, teenagers, having to endure the - having to go through childbirth, who may have been raped, who've been victimized themselves - what kind of cruel society have we become when that is tolerated in a single state?

So, what Donald Trump said as he was spewing out a volcano full of lies through the night, what struck me the most was when he said that the majority of Americans want to lose the right to choose. Because of what he did while he was in office, one out of three American women right now have lost the right to make that decision for themselves.

So, we know, and I say this, "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it." We saw what happened under Donald Trump, and even four months of him - let alone four years - can lead us into a place that is going to be irretrievable for us to come back from, and that includes women's rights to choose. So, it is personal. It's on the ballot, and don't anybody tell you it's not there because it truly is.

Alicia Menendez, MSNBC: Governor, I am from New Jersey and happen to work in New York City. So, you are not my Governor, but we are in something of a symbiotic relationship. Congestion pricing, of course, a big topic of conversation in the tri-state area.

Your critics have said national politics really influenced your decision to pause the congestion pricing plan. I want you to respond to that, but also, under which conditions you would reconsider that pause?

Governor Hochul: What I did was simply recognize that New Yorkers and people in this region have been hard hit by inflation. The cost of everything is going up. We're still trying to get people back after the pandemic - we're not fully there yet. And I don't want to set back to our recovery from people who say, "Well, I don't want to pay $15 more a day. I'll just work remotely." That'll be devastating for us. So, I put the brakes on. I said it's a temporary pause, but I - you - play into politics. I'm just that old school Democrat who listens to the little guy, hardworking people who just want a break, and that's what we did.

Alicia Menendez, MSNBC: Even the people who wanted to see investments in city infrastructure, including public transportation?

Governor Hochul: I will say this as well: we have a system that's 106 years old. We have made billions of dollars in investments - I'm continuing to announce even more. Nothing that was on the on the drawing books is going to be delayed, we'll make sure it gets done. But we've been able to fund this without congestion pricing. It is a vehicle. It is one of a number of vehicles. So, we are having this on pause. I'm in conversations with the leaders of the Legislature. We could talk about how to fund this, but every project that matters to New Yorkers will be accomplished.

Alicia Menendez, MSNBC: Governor Hochul, thank you so much for being with us.

Contact the Governor's Press Office