WATCH: Andrew Cuomo Says “America Was Never That Great”

Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo has been drawing attention — and intense criticism — for an off-handed remark he made on Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re not going to make America great again,” the governor said, “because America was never that great.”

You can watch the clip here. You can hear the crowd gasp in shock.

Cuomo goes on to say, “We have not reached greatness. We will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged. We will reach greatness when discrimination and stereotyping against women, 51 percent of our population, is gone and every woman’s full potential is realized and unleashed and every woman is making her full contribution. When that happens, this nation is going to be taken even higher.”

Cuomo’s Press Secretary Immediately Tried to Spin Cuomo’s Remark

It wasn’t long before Cuomo was getting bashed for his statement all over the media. Fox News called the remark a ready-made campaign ad for Republicans to use against him, if the New York governor decides to run for president in 2020.

The online community warned that Cuomo will “suffer” for the remark:

And others were still more outspoken about their views:

So Cuomo’s press secretary, Dana Lever, released a statement explaining Cuomo’s remarks. You can read the text of that statement here.

Lever said that Cuomo does believe that America is great. He just wants it to become greater still. She wrote, “The governor believes that America is great and that her full greatness will be fully realized when every man, woman, and child has full equality. America hasa not yet reached her full potential.”

Cuomo’s Press Secretary Also Took a Few Jabs at Trump

Many people think that Cuomo’s remark was a dig at Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. Well, whether or not Cuomo meant it that way, his spokeswoman made a few explicit digs at Trump.

In the statement she released today, she said, “When the president speaks about making America great again — going back in time — he ignores the pain so many ignored and that we suffered from slavery, discrimination, segregation, sexism, and marginalized women’s contributions.”

Lever said Cuomo believes that “when everyone is fully included and everyone is contributing to their maximum potential, that is when America will achieve maximum greatness.”