Democrats have a crowded field to take on Rep. Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.), and several of them are exhibiting what Republicans told the Washington Reporter is “incendiary behavior.”
On the campaign trail, Mike Sacks, a former local reporter who is one of the Democrats vying to take on Lawler, told voters that “when they go low, we kick them in the teeth.” At the time, his remarks prompted Maureen O’Toole, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), to call him “a threat to New Yorkers and a threat to our nation.”
Sacks, who kicked off his campaign with a pledge to “unf***” the country, is not alone. The rhetoric even trickles down to the supporters and spouses of some of the Democrats running. A supporter of Beth Davidson recently called Lawler a “piece of s***.”
Peter Chatzky’s wife, for example, reacted with a heart emoji to a post that celebrated President Donald Trump’s hypothetical death, and called for deporting “white men in their 20’s [sic].”
“And each time these incidents have occurred, every single candidate — Beth Davidson, Mike Sacks, Cait Conley, John Cappello, Effie Phillips-Staley, and Peter Chatzky — has remained radio silent,” a GOP strategist told the Reporter.
“The Democrats running to take on Mike Lawler are too afraid of their own base to condemn blatant incendiary, aggressive behavior toward their opponent,” O’Toole told the Reporter. “These Democrats are completely out of touch with the Hudson Valley.”