Contact: Press Office, The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, 212-371-3191, pr@catholicleague.org

NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2014 /Standard Newswire/ -- Bill Donohue comments on the response by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo's spokesman to criticism over his statement about "extreme conservatives":

Governor Cuomo continues to give legs to the controversy over a remark he made last Friday on the radio. Instead of apologizing, he has dug himself in deeper.

In the radio interview, Cuomo was speaking about New York Republicans who voted against the SAFE Act, a gun control law. Here is what he said: "Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves. Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault weapons, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that's who they are and they're the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that's not who New Yorkers are."

After Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, criticized Cuomo on Tuesday, the governor's spokesman, Matt Wing, complained yesterday that Cuomo's comments had been "repeatedly taken out of context--what he actually said was that the state is a moderate political state with all views welcome."

Wing's defense is stunning. Not only is New York one of the most  liberal states in the nation, more important, Cuomo manifestly did not say that the Empire state is a place where "all views [are] welcome." He expressly said that those who disagree with his policies on abortion, gun control, and marriage, "have no place in the state of New York, because that's not who New Yorkers are." There is no welcome mat there.

In other words, Wing lied. He lied for Cuomo.

Contact Wing: matthew.wing@exec.ny.gov