‘I can tell you the threat of communism is not just in China. It is right here in America,’ Betsy McCaughey says.
Betsy McCaughey, who served as lieutenant governor of New York under George Pataki, said she might pursue a gubernatorial bid during a recent event in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens, which is home to the largest Chinese community in New York City.
“I can tell you that I am considering running for governor of New York state, and when I do, the CCP will be out of this state! Period. Driven out! We will not tolerate it,” McCaughey said in a short speech on Aug. 10, using the acronym of the Chinese Communist Party.
“I can tell you the threat of communism is not just in China. It is right here in America.”
McCaughey was one of several speakers at a rally hosted by the New York-based nonprofit Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party. The event commemorated the occasion of more than 450 million Chinese people having renounced their ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.
The center was formed as a result of the global “Tuidang” or “Quit the CCP” movement, which was inspired by The Epoch Times’ 2004 editorial series “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.” The publication contains numerous topics that are considered taboo in China, including the history of the CCP and its crimes against the Chinese people.
In New York City, the center has several booths that assist Chinese people in withdrawing from the CCP. The booths are run by volunteers, all of whom practice Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, a spiritual discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
Falun Gong practitioners have been the target of brutal persecution by the CCP since July 1999. Since then, millions of people have been detained inside prisons, labor camps, and other facilities, with hundreds of thousands tortured while incarcerated and untold numbers persecuted to death, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.
In April, a man attacked the center’s booth near the Main Street subway station in Flushing. The incident followed a series of threats the center had received, including bomb attacks and shootings, primarily targeting Falun Gong practitioners and supporters.
By Frank Fang
