Speaker Mike Johnson headed out east Friday to headline a lively campaign stop for Republican congressional hopeful Mike LiPetri \u2014 and slammed incumbent Rep. Tom Suozzi as part of the \u201cMarxist crazy left Democrats\u201d trying to take over the House.<\/p>\n
The daytime event at the festive Embassy Diner also drew Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor \u2014 but former Yankees star Mark Teixeira, who had been billed for the event, was a no-show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
LiPetri boasted that his campaign has \u201cmomentum\u201d as he seeks to unseat Suozzi in CD 3, spanning parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties and Queens.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Mike Johnson portrayed Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi\u00a0as among the \u201cMarxist crazy left Democrats\u201d trying to take over the House. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cThe momentum is with us. The winds are behind us and ready to push us forward to win this seat come November 3,\u201d LiPetri told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re seeing socialism poison the Democratic Party.\u00a0And what\u2019s\u00a0even more frightening is Democrats like my opponent, who will do exactly what they say and say nothing to stand up to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson during his speech repeatedly linked Suozzi to what he called a growing \u201ccommunist\u201d takeover of the Democratic Party \u2014 as waiters brought out\u00a0lobster-laden trays for attendees at\u00a0the packed, family-oriented booster.<\/p>\n
Republican congressional hopeful Mike LiPetri said his campaign has \u201cmomentum\u201d as he seeks to unseat Suozzi. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Democrat party is being overtaken by communists,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThere is a Marxist element you see happening in New York as clearly as anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson criticized Suozzi over his support of allowing transgender athletes in women\u2019s sports and raising the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap and for calling on a ban on congressional stock trading.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He argued that Republicans must defend their House majority, warning that Democrats would undo GOP accomplishments if they retake the chamber.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York is at the center of this strategy,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe have to hold the majority because the stakes are so high. This is a contrast election.\u201d<\/p>\n
LiPetri narrowly lost to Suozzi in 2024, failing by about 3 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson said Republicans have a slight fundraising advantage over Democrats for the first time in a decade, though he acknowledged the party faces difficult historical odds in a blue state during a midterm election.<\/p>\n
Trump and Vice President JD Vance have also made stops on Long Island this summer to boost LiPetri\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman used his remarks to attack his opponent Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling them \u201ccomrades\u201d and accusing them of promoting dangerous policies. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n
Blakeman used his remarks Friday to attack his opponent Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling them \u201ccomrades\u201d and accusing them of promoting dangerous policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are living in the most overtaxed state in America,\u201d Blakeman railed. \u201cAnd now she has a new buddy, Zohran Mamdani, and now we call her Comrade Kathy. She endorsed him. He endorsed her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Speaker\u2019s right,\u201d Blakeman went on, \u201cThese people are dangerous. They\u2019re dangerous people. They\u2019re antisemitic. They\u2019re anti-Christian. They\u2019re anti-American.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suozzi campaign spokesperson Kim Devlin said LiPetri\u2019s decision to campaign with Johnson underscored that he would be a \u201crubber stamp\u201d for President Trump\u2019s policies if LePetri makes it to Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohnson and LiPetri would simply be rubber stamps in Washington, backing the president\u2019s irresponsible tariffs and reckless war in Iran that are driving up the cost of gas, groceries and housing,\u201d Devlin said.<\/p>\n
Hochul\u2019s campaign also slammed Blakeman.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s making crystal clear once again that he\u2019s fully on board with Washington Republicans\u2019 harmful MAGA agenda, by campaigning today with House Speaker Mike Johnson,\u201d a rep said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Speaker Mike Johnson headed out east Friday to headline a lively campaign stop for Republican congressional hopeful Mike…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[143],"tags":[486,543,4257,478,1076,48],"class_list":["post-197303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mike-johnson","tag-democrats","tag-metro","tag-midterm-elections","tag-mike-johnson","tag-republicans","tag-us-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/117136203615028299","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}