The Republican county executive considering a run for governor says incumbent Democrat Andrew Cuomo should apologize for “divisive” and “intolerant” comments about “extreme conservatives.”

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino says he’ll decide in February whether to challenge Cuomo. He called Cuomo’s radio comments on Friday “unacceptable.”

In discussing the Republican Party, Cuomo said it was divided between moderates and “extreme conservatives” he described as pro-assault weapons, against abortion and anti-gay and who “have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”

In a subsequent letter to the New York Post, Cuomo’s counsel, Mylan Denerstein, says the governor believes in diversity of opinion and was making the point that New York is a politically moderate state where “an extremist agenda is not politically viable statewide.”

(AP)