New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — often shouting over the moderators — asked Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro several times if he supported the president. Molinaro ducked the question. | Mary Altaffer/AP Photo Cuomo and Molinaro spar over SALT, corruption, Trump

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his Republican challenger Marc Molinaro traded barbs and insults during their only scheduled debate on Tuesday, with Cuomo linking Molinaro to President Donald Trump and Molinaro doing his best to keep his distance from the New York Republican in the White House.

Cuomo suggested that Molinaro supported a provision of the Republican tax bill that capped deductions for state and local taxes at $10,000 — a measure that seemed designed to punish high-tax states like New York.


Molinaro has said he does not support the cap on deductions.

“The problem in New York is that we tax too much, we force too much spending out to school districts not to towns, villages and counties and even within the city of New York, property taxes continue to make us less competitive,” Molinaro said.

Cuomo — often shouting over the moderators — asked Molinaro several times if he supported the president. Molinaro ducked the question.

“I have said this a hundred times before, when the president does something that is in the best interest of New York, I will absolutely support it, and when he doesn’t I’m not going to support it,” Molinaro told reporters following the debate. “What I’m not going to do is let the governor dictate the dialogue.”

Molinaro, who has said he did not vote for Trump, has voiced support for some of president's economic policies — a point of contention between the two candidates as the governor continued to pound away on the deductibility issue.

"That’s how they finance a tax cut for the rich, by taking away our deduction," Cuomo said. "That is how the bill worked.”

Molinaro grew visibly frustrated as Cuomo interrupted him, prompting him to say several times, “Let me finish my thought, sir.”

The debate, which was preceded by weeks of controversy over how and when it would be held, was Molinaro's best and perhaps last chance to introduce himself to voters as Election Day draws near. He trails Cuomo by more than 20 points in many polls.

Molinaro, who is the Dutchess County executive, went on the offensive during a discussion of corruption and ethical lapses in Albany, accusing Cuomo of leading “the most corrupted state government in America.”

WCBS political reporter Marcia Kramer, one of the debate's two moderators, asked Cuomo whether he'd be willing to overhaul one of his signature reforms by handing off control of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics to the attorney general.

“The AG, which I know because I was attorney general, already has jurisdiction,” he replied. (The attorney general does not actually have primary jurisdiction over most forms of public corruption).

But Cuomo detailed some changes he’d be willing to make to JCOPE, and was far more specific than he has been in the past.

“I believe we need more independence on JCOPE, I believe we need totally independent appointees and not necessarily representatives of both houses [of the Legislature],” he said. Members of JCOPE are appointed by the Legislature and the governor, and the governor is thought to dominate the commission.

“I’d be open to a number of configurations, but they’d have to be independent. I’d have the attorney general involved; I’d have the chief judge involved in appointing the members,” he said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, with whom Cuomo frequently fights, came up during a question about increasing space for charter schools.

Cuomo responded by saying he would treat the mayor to a “nice bottle of wine and a plate of pasta,” followed by a joke about how his relationship with the mayor was “lovey-dovey”

On other issues, the governor took credit for decreasing the state spending cap, passing several time budgets on time and extending his hand across the aisle.

“The cost of doing business in New York is just too high and it has been for many years,” Cuomo said in response to a question about whether he would commit to lowering state spending and taxes.

“I’ve been accused of being too fiscally moderate. The formula is simple — if you want to lose weight, eat less,” he said.

A lighter, if bizarre, moment came during a closing lightning round of questions in which Kramer asked the candidates to name the song that best personified them or their campaign and to sing it.

Cuomo chose “Empire State of Mind" but declined Kramer's offer to perform it. He insisted, though, that he could sing it in the shower.

Molinaro’s tune of choice was “Don’t Stop Believing.” He, too, declined to sing.