#Andrew Giuliani rips Cuomo, defund the police in campaign video

Andrew Giuliani officially kicked off his Republican campaign for governor by unveiling a video ripping into embattled three-term Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The video also mocks Mayor de Blasio and fellow progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and criticizes the defund the police movement.

Giuliani, 35, the son of former Mayor Rudy Giiuliani, starts the video by paying homage to New York landmarks including the Statue of LIberty, the Montauk Lighthouse and Niagara Falls.

He praises the history of New Yorkers making “the impossible possible” but said the state is now “facing turbulent times.”

The video then pans to pictures and footage of de Blasio, Ocasio-Cortez before slamming Cuomo.

“At the first sign of problems, they shut us down,” says Giuliani, who served as a White House aide to former President Donald Trump. “They quarantined healthy people.”

The video then shows the USS Comfort hospital ship that Trump sent to New York harbor last year to help New York treat patients during the coronavirus pandemic.

“They asked for help and when it comes they don’t use it,” he said, mirroring criticism that Trump leveled at Cuomo last year.

Giuliani then refers to the Cuomo administration’s controversial since-rescinded policy of requiring nursing homes to accept recovering COVID patients discharged from hospitals and shows video of Cuomo accepting an Emmy Award for his press conferences during the early stages of the crisis.

“They sent the sick to infect the elderly,” Giuliani says.

The video then cuts to Cuomo saying “but who cares” where nursing home residents were recorded as dying — in a nursing home or a hospital. “They died.”

“And then they covered it up,” Giuliani said, referring to Cuomo’s undercounting of nursing home resident deaths.

He accused Democrats of hypocrisy when it comes to women’s rights.

“They promoted women’s rights. But they exploit and harass them,” Giuliani said, while showing pictures of Cuomo’s accusers.

Giuliani, like his father, said he would be the law and order candidate and painted Democrats as soft on crime and more concerned about defendants’ rights.

“Defund the police. Let criminals run. Keeping kids out of school. And all the while raising taxes.

Giuliani is shown walking in Times Square with a police precinct behind him and vowing to oversee New York’s “greatest comeback ever.”

In an interview with The Post posted early Tuesday, Giuliani likened a race between him and Cuomo to the famous 1971 heavy weight boxing fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden.

But Giuliani first has to win a Republican primary to become the GOP nominee to face off against Cuomo or another Democrat.

(He also weighed in on his infamous portrayal by the late Chris Farley on “SNL” in the ’90s, when he was a child.)

Giuliani will face resistance as many of the state’s county Republican and conservative party leaders have already endorsed Long Island Congressman Lee Zeldin for governor. Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino is also running.

The Staten Island Republican Party — long a stronghold for dad Rudy Giuliani’s campaigns for mayor — is backing Zeldin.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis — the most influential Republican in the borough — endorsed Zeldin.

“Lee has gained significant traction in both fundraising and has consolidated Republican and Conservative party support. We must unite to defeat Cuomo and save our state,” Malliotakis said.

But state GOP chairman Nick Langworthy welcomed Guliani’s entry into the race.

“Rudy will forever be known as the man who transformed New York City, and Andrew can be the one to do it statewide,” Langworthy said.

“New York is broken and in need of the type of overhaul that the Giuliani administration ushered in during the 1990’s. The corruption, deadly mismanagement, and incompetence of the Cuomo administration has energized our party from the ground up, as evidenced by the number of accomplished New Yorkers who have stepped forward to run. We look forward to a spirited discussion about who can best move our state forward, but one thing is certain: we are united in our shared mission to save our state.”

Meanwhile, GOP consultant Rob Cole, who served as a top aide to former three-term Republican Gov. George Pataki, said, “I think Andrew’s got a good shot at winning the nomination. The Giuliani name is solid among Republicans in New York. He will be a strong force for the nomination. He’s a very likable guy.”

Cuomo had no immediate comment.