The Republican candidate for governor, Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, is defending a campaign ad which addresses violence on the streets of New York, but includes a clip from California.

“You are looking at actual violent crimes caught on camera in Kathy Hochul’s New York. And it’s getting much worse,” the announcer says.

But Zeldin confirmed published reports that half the clips are from before Hochul became governor, and one of them isn’t even footage of New York, but instead Oakland, Calif.

“One clip, a local news outlet had shown a clip that was in a story about attacks on Asian Americans in New York City. Once it was brought to our attention, that one clip, and there are 13 different clips in our tv ad, that was swapped out,” Zeldin said. “But this whole thing about the clips from when she was lieutenant governor, she is not getting any type of a free pass.”

Zeldin has been pushing Gov. Kathy Hochul to accept a series of debates before the November election.

“I am willing to do a debate with Kathy Hochul in every media market. They have to start now,” Zeldin says

Hochul has said that she will debate Zeldin, but she has not yet committed to any times or dates to actually do so.

Meanwhile Thursday, she signed a bill making it easier to find relief for student debt.

When President Joe Biden announced last month that some student debt would be forgiven, it meant potential relief for over two million New Yorkers.

But college debt forgiveness programs already exist. And Hochul has signed a bill passed earlier this year which makes it easier for public employees to locate where they can apply.

“Take the blow horn, sound the alarm. You need to know about this because this could be life changing for you, your children and the next generation,” Hochul said. “When you don’t feel strangled by debt. So, if you have a full-time job in public service, make 120 monthly loan payments and the rest of your debt is forgiven.”