Mike Lawler Dismisses Rockland NAACP Forum, Once Again Insulting Black Voters

"Refusing to participate was insulting to a historic civil rights organization and to 'Black people across the country,' [the NAACPs] said in a statement."

Mike Lawler is facing intense scrutiny after a damning report from The New York Times exposed the vulnerable New York Republican for wearing "blackface as part of a Halloween costume" - then offensively defending the blackface as "the sincerest form of flattery."

As the Rockland County NAACP plans to hold multiple candidate forums tonight, Mike Lawler "declined " to attend - underscoring once again the vulnerable New York Republican's disturbing pattern of insensitivity to the district's Black community.

Late last week, Politico also revealed that Lawler twice refused to condemn racist slurs and language at events and interviews in just the last month - underscoring that he's repeatedly allowed dangerous and hateful rhetoric to go unchecked.

The Spring Valley, Nyack, and Mid-Hudson/Westchester branches of the NAACP have condemned Lawler's use of blackface and pattern of racial insensitivity.

DCCC Spokesperson Ellie Dougherty:
"Mike Lawler's refusal to attend tonight's forum proves that he doesn't actually understand the gravity of his behavior and is insensitive to the district's Black community."

LoHud: Rockland NAACPs to hold Thursday forum for House, state candidates - minus 2 who balked
Chris McKenna | 10.09.24

KEY POINTS:

• Candidates in four federal and state races in Rockland County will answer questions Thursday, Oct. 10, at an annual pre-election forum held by two Rockland NAACP chapters.

• The online discussion will feature both candidates in two Assembly races and two Democratic contenders only for Congress and state Senate. Those two Democrats are former Rep. Mondaire Jones, who's challenging GOP Rep. Mike Lawler for New York's 17th Congressional District seat; and former Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, who's waging a rematch race against GOP Sen. Bill Weber.

• Lawler and Weber declined to participate.

• In a press release Tuesday, leaders of the Spring Valley and Nyack chapters chided Lawler and Weber for not taking part, saying the forum would have given the first-term congressman a chance to address last week's publication of a 2006 photo of him in blackface while dressed as Michael Jackson. Lawler has apologized and said he was paying tribute to a boyhood hero. NAACP leaders have condemned the image and said it was offensive to the Black community.

• NAACP leaders rejected the claim of partisanship, saying the Spring Valley and Nyack branches have held their forums for more than 40 years to give citizens a chance to question candidates and hold them accountable. Refusing to participate was insulting to a historic civil rights organization and to "Black people across the country," they said in a statement.

• "Our members, like all Americans, are free to exercise their rights, whether through voting or supporting candidates," they wrote. "But when it comes to the NAACP's work, our only loyalty is to justice, equity, and the people we serve. Those who mistake accountability for partisanship are simply missing the point."

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