Blakeman compares Gov. Hochul's address to a 'Saturday Night Live' skit

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, running for governor as a Republican and Conservative, decried Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address Tuesday, describing it as a " 'Saturday Night Live' skit."

"It was the most unbelievable speech I’ve ever heard," Blakeman said at Nassau GOP headquarters in Westbury on Tuesday afternoon. "And I mean unbelievable. There was nothing in that speech that was believable. I thought I was watching a 'Saturday Night Live' skit."

In her remarks on Tuesday in Albany, Hochul zeroed in on affordability, taking aim at President Donald Trump’s policies on child care, vaccine standards and energy. 

In rebuttal remarks lasting about two minutes, Blakeman accused Hochul of doing "nothing" for child care since taking office, instead proposing his own tax credit plan, as she has, but without outlining  specifics. Blakeman only said those tax credits would be worth "more" than those proposed by Hochul. He also took aim at Hochul's near $5 billion spending plan in managing the yearslong migrant crisis in New York City, saying she was helping those who have been in the Empire State "for 15 minutes." 

Hochul announced plans last week to increase prekindergarten and child care access with $1.2 billion in subsidies. 

"Gov. Hochul is going to keep delivering on her promises: lowering costs, investing in public safety, and protecting our kids, ensuring Long Islanders and all New Yorkers have the future they deserve," Ryan Radulovacki, a spokesman for Hochul's campaign, said in a statement to Newsday.

In his bid for governor, Blakeman is tasked with satisfying his local base — which helped him win reelection last November despite there being almost 71,000 more Democrats in Nassau than Republicans — and also corralling swing voters upstate, experts say.

With 2.1 million active voters, Long Island makes up nearly one-fifth of New York’s voting bloc.

Speaking to Long Island business leaders in Woodbury last week, Hochul denounced what she described as Blakeman’s "militia," a group of gun-licensed Nassau residents he enlisted to volunteer to help first responders in an emergency.

"I have faith in Long Island police departments," she said, garnering applause from the crowd. "I find it undermining that you think you need a separate militia to do something that they do anyhow."

Earlier that morning, asked on stage what he was looking forward to in 2026, Blakeman said, "That’s a very loaded question. ... I guess, a new governor?" 

One topic the two have  agreed on  is limiting protests near houses of worship.

Shortly after his swearing-in Monday evening, Blakeman’s first move was to sign into law Nassau’s Religious Safety Act, which makes it illegal to protest within 35 feet of houses of worship an hour before or after a service. It also prohibits protesters from coming within 10 feet of someone entering or leaving a house of worship.

Hochul, meanwhile, is proposing a ban on protests within 25 feet of religious property lines. "Those who simply want to pray can do so without fear or harassment," she said Tuesday.

But the pair diverge on immigration enforcement. As Blakeman touts his local partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Hochul is proposing a law that would allow New Yorkers to sue federal officers who violate their civil rights.

After ICE agents arrested a New York City Council employee in Bethpage on Monday during his immigration appointment, Hochul called for his release.

He should never have been arrested, she told Newsday through spokesman Gordon Tepper.

"Detaining people during routine court appearances doesn’t make us safer," she wrote in a social media post. "It erodes trust, spreads fear, and violates basic principles of fairness."

Pressed by Newsday on Tuesday, Blakeman said, "I don’t know enough about the specifics, but let’s focus on the real issue, not some isolated event."

"Nobody except for Kathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani are talking about this individual who was here illegally," he said.