With Election Day around the corner, my mailbox is often full of political mailers. The glossy poster board missives are coming fast and furious. Here in South Brooklyn the big race is between Rep. Max Rose, the first-term Democrat who flipped a GOP seat in 2018, and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, his Republican challenger. So it was no surprise to find a Rose mailer among my bills and credit card offers, but it was a little surprising to see who was featured on it, none other than President Donald Trump.
There it was, right on top of the mailer, President Trump signing a bill in his classic sharpie, hair just so, and behind him a beaming Max Rose. Just below it reads, “Rose Attends Trump Signing Of Executive Order On Anti-Semitism.”
It looks like they’re buddies. Rose is sending a clear message that he is cool with Trump who is popular in the NY-11 district comprised of Staten Island and South Brooklyn. But here’s the thing: not too long ago Max Rose voted to impeach that very same president he is posing with.
Back in December a passionate Rose had this to say, “A president coercing a foreign government into targeting American citizens is not just another example of scorched earth politics, it serves as an invitation to the enemies of the United States to come after any citizen, so long as they disagree with the president. Embarking on an unprecedented effort to obstruct this inquiry doesn’t make the facts any less true. Therefore, I will vote in support of the two Articles of Impeachment.”
Just to be clear on this, nine months ago the congressman wanted Donald Trump thrown out of office. Today, he is using Trump’s image to promote his own political fortunes. The big criticism of Max Rose is that he stands for nothing but Max Rose. When he thinks it will benefit, him he marches to defund the police, but later he swears he supports the police. In December, the president was dangerous and had to be removed, but today the president is his ally in protecting Jews.
What this tells us more than anything else is that Rose is desperate. He has already run ads trashing Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, now he is using Donald Trump as a political prop? I mean, if he wants to be a Republican he should just become a Republican. But of course he doesn’t. The only thing Max Rose wants is to be in power, and he will obviously say anything he thinks helps him in that regard.
This sudden embrace of Donald Trump, now that Rose finds himself in electoral trouble, would be comical if it wasn’t so insulting. But the voters in NY-11 aren’t stupid; this laughably transparent effort to attract Trump supporters will garner far more belly laughs than votes.
Nice try, Max. You had a chance to stand with the president back in December, you voted to impeach him instead. That is not something that anyone is going to forget.
