New York Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized ‘politically reluctant’ Democrats on Monday for their muted response to Rep. Ilhan Omar’s antisemitic comments earlier this month.

“I think some people were reluctant to vociferously stand up and condemn it because the whole political environment is so charged. Whatever you say, you’re going to get criticized by the other side,” Cuomo said during an interview on WAMC’s The Roundtable with host Alan Chartock. “Say what’s right, say what’s your belief, and say the truth and damn the rest.”

In his criticism, Cuomo did not single out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as being responsible for watering down the House resolution on antisemitic rhetoric. “I think there are a lot of Democrats, and a lot of Republicans by the way, who are just politically reluctant to say anything because they have a fear of retaliation. You can’t ask a speaker to stand up and articulate a position that her conference is not going to support.”

Cuomo added: “It shouldn’t have been just Speaker Pelosi and the Congress. It should have been every Democrat, you know. Everyone should have stood up, every New Yorker — for crying out loud, you want to tolerate antisemitism in New York? But no, it was muted. It was muted because too many people feared the retaliation of this reptilian political moment.”

By Jacob Kornbluh in New York