WATCH: Lee Zeldin Presser About Attempted Throat-Stabbing Derailed By Fainting Woman
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), the GOP nominee in the New York gubernatorial race, was conducting a press conference the day after he was attacked when a woman in the audience fainted.
At a Thursday rally, Zeldin was speaking when David Jakubonis, 43, walked onto the stage and grabbed Zeldin. He appeared to try and stab the congressman with a sharp object before he was pulled to the ground.
Video captured by attendees showed the attack:
Video of candidate for Governor Lee Zeldin being confronted on stage by a guy with some kind of knife.
Attacker just repeats, “You’re done.” lol 🤷♂️
Looks like brass knuckles but knife knuckles — this world is just crazy 🤯 pic.twitter.com/6gWNo6KEbx
— 🏔Adam O🏔 (@denverbitcoin) July 22, 2022
Jakubonis was charged with second-degree assault and released hours after his arrest, according to the New York Post.
At the Friday press conference, a reporter asked Zeldin, “How do you respond to those that look at what happened and the fact that they were released shortly after this incident and might somewhat cynically look at that and think…”
Before the reporter could finish their question, someone in the crowd fainted.
A couple people can be heard asking if anyone has water. The woman was attended to as Zeldin watched a few feet away.
Of the three major cable news networks – Fox News, MSNBC and CNN – only Fox News carried the presser.
