‘Pathetic Attempt at Fooling Democrats’: Trump Riles New York Primaries With ‘Endorsements’

Alex GriffingAug 18th, 2022, 1:43 pm
 
Former President Trump And Fellow Conservatives Address Annual CPAC Meeting

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump tried his hand at Democratic Party primary politics on Wednesday by endorsing two New York City Democrats in their respective bids for Congress.

“Lawyer Dan Goldman is running for Congress, NY-10, and it is my great honor to Strongly Endorse him,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“I do this not because of the fact that he headed up the Impeachment Committee and lost, but because he was honorable, fair, and highly intelligent. While it was my honor to beat him, and beat him badly, Dan Goldman has a wonderful future ahead,” Trump added of the MSNBC contributor and heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune.

Trump followed his “endorsement” of Goldman up with two separate messages praising Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler (D-NY) who are facing off in the primary for New York’s 12th district after redistricting left the two senior House members fighting for the same seat.

“She is a kind and wonderful person, who has always said terrific things about me, and will support me no matter what I do, just as I supported her very early on,” Trump wrote of Maloney, who has recently made headlines for suggesting President Joe Biden will not seek reelection.

Maloney shot back, calling Trump’s praise “laughable” on Thursday. “I reject any endorsement from Donald Trump. Trump doesn’t respect women. He instigated the attacks on January 6th and claimed that the 2020 election was a big lie.”

“On the other hand, Jerry Nadler is likewise a hard-driving man of the people, whose energy and attention to detail is unlike anyone else in Congress. He is high energy, sharp, quick-witted, and bright,” Trump then said of Nadler, who as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee led the charge during Trump’s two House impeachments.

Nadler and Maloney’s opponent Suraj Patel dismissed Trump’s posts as a distraction after jesting on Twitter, “I’m proud that Donald Trump has nothing positive to say about me.”

Patel wrote on Wednesday night, “We’re focused on our race & providing NYC with new ideas and energy to take on the challenges we face for the next decade.”

“We all had a little fun with this but bc it’s funny but, no, this isn’t going to voters or distracting from our winning message,” he added. The latest Emerson College poll in the race has Nadler leading with 40 percent of the vote, Maloney in second place with 31 percent,t and Patel in third with 11 percent.

Goldman’s top opponent, New York Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, took a different approach from Patel and shared Trump’s “endorsement” with the message, “Donald Trump just endorsed my multi-millionaire opponent, in case you needed a reminder of what the stakes are. #NY10, choose your fighter.”

Niou later doubled down on believing in the sincerity of Trump’s words, adding, “He said it out loud. To stop the left.” Niou received negative press attention earlier in the month for posting and then deleting an endorsement to her campaign website from an author that claimed Israel was behind the 9/11 terror attacks.

Goldman’s campaign, meanwhile, released a statement accusing Trump of trying to “meddle” in the election.

“Last week Donald Trump attacked Dan Goldman, who led his impeachment. Now he’s pretending to endorse Goldman. True to form, Trump is trying to meddle in an election,” Goldman said in a statement.

“This is a pathetic attempt at fooling Democrats who are far smarter than Trump is, and it’s clear that only one candidate in NY-10 is living rent-free in Trump’s head,” the statement added.

The latest Emerson College poll for the district shows a tight race between Goldman and Niou with Goldman currently leading the crowded field with 20 percent and Niou in second with 17 percent of the vote.

Trump’s praise of the three New York Democrats came after the New York Times endorsed both Goldman and Nadler in their respective races. Multiple pundits and observers compared Trump’s “endorsement,” which appeared to be either sarcastic or in bad faith to Democrats’ efforts to boost far-right candidates in GOP primaries with the hope of securing easier wins in general elections.

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Alex Griffing - Senior Editor

Alex Griffing is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Send tips via email: alexanderg@mediaite.com. Follow him on Twitter: @alexgriffing