Governor Kathy Hochul made a signficant verbal boo-boo yesterday which, if she had a “R” after her name, would have been the subject of every single evening news show.

Lucky for Hochul, she has a “D” after her name, so she can get away with saying something incredibly stupid, on par with something her current president might have said, and walk away with only local politicians and media calling her out before she mea culpa’d all over the place.

In the year of our Lord 2024, Kathy Hochul apparently thought that black kids in New York don’t understand English, or something. This gaffe is so mind-blowing, I don’t even know what to say, except that I would have expected this from Joe Biden.

Hochul, speaking at an on-stage forum in California Monday, stuck her foot in her mouth while trying to explain how she wants to create a diverse workforce in new areas like artificial intelligence.

“Right now we have, you know, young black kids growing up in the Bronx who don’t even know what the word ‘computer’ is,” Gov. Kathy Hochul blabbered into a microphone Monday.

“They don’t know, they don’t know these things. And I want the world opened up to all of them,” she continued.

Her full quote reads:

Now what we have is the money to build a phenomenal super computer that is gonna be accessible to the researchers in New York, college students, will attract more federal grants, and this is how we lay down the mark. No state has done this. In fact, I talk to a lot of other people who say, “I wish my governor had thought of that first.” I say, “No no, this is New York. We like to be first,” with all due respect to you from other states. It’s sort of our attitude. We will be the best, we will be the first, and I want others to follow because right now we have, you know, young Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don’t even know what the word “computer” is. They don’t know. They don’t know these things.

“And I want the world opened up to all of them because when you have their diverse voices innovating solutions through technology, then you’re really addressing society’s broader challenges.”

And yes, it’s on video. Better yet, it’s on HER OWN YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

This assumption is incredibly bad and utterly inane, especially considering that these kids just four years ago were condemned to a year-plus of ONLINE SCHOOL FROM A COMPUTER. Or did those black kids in the Bronx just not go to school for a full year?

Local politicians were quick to roast Hochul, which is no surprise.

“I’m deeply troubled by the recent statements made by Governor Kathy Hochul,” wrote New York State Assembly Member John Zaccaro Jr. in a statement. “The underlying perception conveyed about Black and brown children from the Bronx is not only disheartening but also deeply concerning.”

Assembly Member Karines Reyes said she was “deeply disturbed” by Hochul’s remarks and “the underlying perception that she has of Black & brown children from the BX.”

“Our children are bright, brilliant, extremely capable, and more than deserving of any opportunities that are extended to other kids,” Reyes wrote. “Do better.”

Assembly Member Amanda Septimo called Hochul’s comments “harmful, deeply misinformed, and genuinely appalling,” and accused the governor of “repeating harmful stereotypes,” while Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie described Hochul’s remarks as “inartful and hurtful.”

Well, Heastie did call her comments “inartful and hurtful,” but that was in DEFENSE of Hochul. No surprise, as the wagons circled to protect the “D.”

New York state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat who represents the Bronx in the Legislature, came to Hochul’s defense as her remarks began to gain traction online.

“While the governor’s words were inartful and hurtful, I don’t believe that is where her heart is. I firmly believe she wants to see all of our students excel,” Heastie said.

Hochul, once the blowback began, immediately issued a statement claiming she “misspoke.”

“I misspoke and I regret it,” Hochul later told the Post in a statement. “Of course Black children in the Bronx know what computers are — the problem is that they too often lack access to the technology needed to get on track to high-paying jobs in emerging industries like AI. That’s why I’ve been focused on increasing economic opportunity since Day One of my Administration.”

Actually, Day One of your administration, Madam Governor, you were busy cleaning the office after Andrew Cuomo left it, and then flexing your own authoritarian muscle when it came to Covid orders. “Increasing economic opportunity” was definitely not what you were “focused” on at that time. Nice historical revision, but no.

So even though Kathy Hochul did her best Joe Biden impression…

I just spit out my water pic.twitter.com/GL5F3phxG0

— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) February 20, 2021

… she will walk away from this without any major repercussions. That “D” after her name is positively magical. Can you imagine if a Republican governor like Ron DeSantis or Sarah Sanders had said something like this? It would lead every single evening news show in the country. MSNBC would be having a complete meltdown on air. But because Hochul is a Democrat, when you Google her name this morning and hit the “news” tab, you only see print media articles (Fox News excepted) leading the way from the New York Times, the AP, and the Daily Mail. ABC News does have an article on it now, but what are the odds it makes the news tonight? Zero.

It’s good to be a Democrat.

Featured image: Governor Kathy Hochul via Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Flickr account, cropped, CC BY 2.0 DEED