NEW YORK — The Republican candidates in two of New York’s most competitive congressional races have associated with people who participated in the raucous pro-Trump rally that devolved into a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last year, according to a review of social media posts.
Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who’s squaring off against her predecessor, Democrat Max Rose, in Tuesday’s election, has posted photos on Twitter of herself campaigning with Sam Pirozzolo on multiple occasions in recent weeks.
“A great evening greeting the community with @SamForNYC,” Malliotakis tweeted on Oct. 28 along with pictures of herself on the campaign trail with Pirozzolo, a GOP candidate for a state Assembly seat on Staten Island.
The next day, Pirozzolo tweeted out more pictures of himself and Malliotakis together on the trail and wrote: “Congresswoman @NMalliotakis and I had a great night chatting with neighbors ... #crime and #inflation were top of mind.”
Months before launching his Assembly bid, Pirozzolo attended former President Donald Trump’s “stop the steal” rally near the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and also helped organize a bus ride from New York to the event, posts he made on Facebook show.
“Calling all Staten Island Patriots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 as we go to Washington D.C. to STOP THE STEAL,” Pirozzolo wrote on Facebook four days ahead the rally before urging followers to contact an associate to reserve seats on the bus.
Once in the capital on Jan. 6, Pirozzolo posted several Facebook Live videos of himself.
“We’re going down to the Capitol building now,” Pirozzolo said in a clip after the rally, at which Trump had implored the crowd to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell” to block Congress’ certification of President Joe Biden’s election.
“I know Nicole Malliotakis is there, she’ll do the right thing,” he continued. “I hope a bunch of other Republicans will do the right thing, and I hope that Mike Pence will do the right thing.”
Later in the clip, as the crowd neared the Capitol, Pirozzolo said, “It’s going to be tremendous.”
There’s no indication Pirozzolo joined the hundreds of Trump supporters who proceeded to smash their way into the Capitol, leaving five people dead, including a police officer, and dozens more wounded.
But the day after the riot, Pirozzolo took to Facebook again to defend Ashli Babbitt, an insurrectionist who was fatally shot by police while trying to break into the House Speaker’s Lounge during the attack.
“I was told by a professional that this woman was unjustly executed,” Pirozzolo posted along with a graphic clip of the shooting.
Reached by phone this week, Pirozzolo would not say if he went inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 and grew combative when asked if he has discussed his participation in the attack with Malliotakis.
“Half of your facts are not correct,” he told the Daily News before hanging up.
Malliotakis, who voted against certifying Biden’s election in the immediate aftermath of the bloody Jan. 6 riot, did not return a request for comment this week.
In light of the Pirozzolo revelations, Rose took aim at Malliotakis’ own actions on Jan. 6.
“Even after a violent riot forced her to run for her life, Nicole still voted to spit on our Constitution by voting to decertify the election,” said Rose, who represented Malliotakis’ district until she ousted him in 2020. “With that vote, she disrespected the flag and every service member who swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution.”
Another New York Republican congressional hopeful with Jan. 6 ties is Colin Schmitt, a state Assemblyman representing parts of Orange and Rockland counties.
On the morning of Jan. 6, Schmitt, who’s running for the 18th Congressional District seat against incumbent Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, rallied two busloads of people before they departed for the capital to participate in Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, a photo posted to Twitter shows.
After the assault on the Capitol, Schmitt claimed in an interview with the Times Herald-Record that he was not talking to the Jan. 6 rally-goers about Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election. Rather, Schmitt, who did not travel to Washington, D.C., for the rally, said he spoke about abortion and one-party rule in Albany.
In a TV interview days later, though, Schmitt said his constituents had gone to the Capitol because they had “concerns with election integrity.”
Asked about the matter this week, Schmitt campaign spokesman Taylor Weyeneth said the people Schmitt addressed on Jan. 6 were members of Orange County Right to Life, an anti-abortion group.
“The group of individuals he spoke with never stepped foot inside of the Capitol that day,” he said. “And to reiterate, as the Assemblyman said as the very first local elected official that day, any person who entered the Capitol illegally and caused harm and damage should be tried to the fullest extent of the law.”
Chris Walsh, Ryan’s campaign manager, didn’t buy Weyeneth’s explanation.
“Political violence is rising across the country, and Colin Schmitt has proven that he will not stand up against it,” he said.
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