President Donald Trump, through a White House spokesperson, today let it be known that he is throwing down against U.S. Rep. Max Rose (D-Southern Brooklyn, Staten Island), who is facing a tough re-election campaign next year against either Republican Frontrunner Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis or Republican former Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Joe Caldarera.
Rose, in whose Congressional district Trump won in the last presidential election, announced last Friday that he would vote in favor of impeaching Trump this week on charges that the president abused his power for allegedly strong-arming the Ukrainian government for political reasons and for obstruction of Congress to investigate the incident.
In an unsolicited White House email to KCP today, Trump’s Deputy Press Secretary Steven Groves wrote “Rep. Max Rose said he wouldn’t go to Washington with a ‘partisan pitchfork’ in his hand, yet he joins Nancy Pelosi and the progressive Democrats in their hyper-partisan, baseless impeachment sham. While Rose is clearly beholden to Pelosi and the DC swamp, President Trump has not stopped fighting for Staten Island and South Brooklyn to address the opioid crisis, improve our infrastructure, and lower prescription drug prices.”
Rose in his statement last Friday on why he will vote for impeachment said party and politics will never come before the country that he bled to protect but that he would vote for impeachment on the merits of the case against Trump.
“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,” Rose said.
But in his statement, Rose also noted that he came to Washington to take on both parties and get things done.
“In the past year alone we passed legislation to finally build the East Shore Seawall, permanently fund the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, and enact sanctions on Chinese pharmaceutical companies for pumping fentanyl into our communities. We’ve also beat FEMA, the Port Authority, and secured much-needed funding for transportation projects. Whether the Senate votes to remove the President or not, I will continue to focus on getting results for the people of Staten Island and South Brooklyn,” said Rose.
Meanwhile, Malliotakis responded to today’s White House email thusly:
“The White House is stating what many residents of Brooklyn and Staten Island already know; Congressman Max Rose is desperate and will say whatever is necessary to get re-elected. This includes flip-flopping on impeachment, a willingness to scuttle sound federal policies that fight terrorism and even support [U.S. Reps.] Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Ihlan Omar’s radical policies, all because he is afraid of being challenged by a socialist. It’s sad that Max Rose really doesn’t understand what his constituents believe in and that he doesn’t have the backbone to support them.”
