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Following election, Hochul says she won’t 'accept an agenda' from Trump

Susan Watts/Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul
/
Flickr

Following Tuesday's historic election, New York Governor Kathy Hochul addressed residents for the first time since President-elect Donald Trump won the vote.

“I know many of you woke up today feeling drained and perhaps demoralized,” she said. “Yet, I know we will find tremendous reserves of untapped energy within ourselves… I want to reassure all New Yorkers, and I know for many of you, this is not the electoral resort result you had hoped for, but I will say this: we have weathered storms before.”

With 97% of votes counted at the time of publishing, more than 4.3 million voters in New York had submitted their ballots for Kamala Harris, according to AP. However, more than 3.4 million voters in the state chose Donald Trump.

Yet, Hochul said she plans to protect the rights of all New Yorkers against any potential threat from the future Trump administration. New York Attorney General Letitia James joined her address.

“My office has been preparing for a potential second Trump administration, and I am ready to do everything in my power to ensure our state and nation do not go backward,” James said. “During his first term, we stood up for the rule of law and defended against abuses of power and federal efforts to harm New Yorkers.”

Hochul announced the Empire State Freedom Initiative, a plan to identify any threats the Trump administration might make to New Yorkers’ rights and protect them through legislation and congressional partnerships. According to Hochul, actions taken against these threats will include legislation and partnerships with Congress.

“While we honor the results of this election… That does not mean we’ll accept an agenda from Washington that strips away the rights that New Yorkers have long enjoyed. I need to remind everyone: This is the birthplace of the women's rights movement, the environmental justice movement, and the LGBTQ rights movement, and the American labor movement,” she said.

Hochul also celebrated the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, or Prop One, in New York.

Eda Uzunlar (she/her) is a news anchor/arts & culture reporter and host for WSHU.