Nancy Pelosi andrew cuomo 2018_00002606.jpg
Cuomo: You want to deport immigrants, start with me
01:10 - Source: CNN

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Pelosi called New York "one of our most important battlegrounds" for Democrats' 2018 hopes

Cuomo condemned New York GOP Reps. John Faso and Chris Collins over health care

CNN  — 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday to rally Democrats to take back the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections.

Cuomo is part of a large crop of Democratic 2020 presidential prospects that’s expected to spend the coming 18 months raising money and campaigning for the party’s endangered senators and its House challengers ahead of the midterm elections. Pelosi, meanwhile, is tasked with leading the fundraising effort for Democrats who hope to turn Trump’s low approval rating into a potentially vast playing field.

Speaking before a group that included dozens of union workers at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Pelosi ripped President Donald Trump over his policies on health care, his travel ban and decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate accord.

“The Empire State is one of our most important battlegrounds for Democrats to take back the House of Representatives for the American people. There are eight Republican seats we can and must win in November 2018. Defeating them in 2018 means laying the foundation for victory right now,” Pelosi said.

Cuomo condemned New York Republican Reps. John Faso and Chris Collins for “violating their oaths of office” by voting in favor of the American Health Care Act.

“Look at the damage they’ve done in just 137 days. They passed a health care bill that would leave 3 million New Yorkers uninsured and cost this state $7 billion,” Cuomo said.

Pelosi blasted the “moral monstrosity of Trumpcare” for what she said are its disproportionate effects on women as well as the “bigotry” of Trump’s travel ban which, among other things, would temporarily bar entry to the US from several Muslim-majority nations. The ban has been blocked by a number of federal court decisions, and Trump’s administration has asked the Supreme Court to review his executive order.

“New Yorkers know that we are all immigrants,” Cuomo said, adding, “You want to deport immigrants, start with me, because I am an immigrant.”

In New York alone, House Democrats’ campaign arm has identified six incumbent Republican members of Congress – Reps. Faso, Collins, Lee Zeldin, Dan Donovan, Claudia Tenney and John Katko – in its first list of 2018 targets. In an expanded second list, New York Reps. Elise Stefanik and Tom Reed were added.

Democrats need 24 seats to retake the House in 2018.

CNN’s Eric Bradner contributed to this report.