Brooklyn City Councilman Justin Brannan’s top staffer, Chris McCreight, called supporters of President Donald Trump “white supremacists” and insinuated that they are not “decent people” last week. He should be ashamed, and Brannan should can him.
It may be hard to believe for Democrats in Brooklyn, but Brannan has constituents that do support our president. Insulting them is reprehensible, especially considering that we pay his salary.
It also makes no political sense. In 2017, Brannan only received 50.23 percent of the vote, and defeated his Republican opponent by a mere 794 votes. You don’t need a PhD in political science to know that after such a close election, you should work to broaden your support, not alienate those that disagree on presidential politics.
Referring to a TIME story on President Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20, McCreight tweeted that afternoon, “This is no time to say ‘haha just a bunch of white supremacists are going to get sick.’ I mean, they are. But they are also going to infect decent people and spread this virus. It’s really a sad day for our country. People will die because of this racist.”
This is his tweet verbatim. Any reasonable interpretation of this makes it clear that McCreight is saying that Trump supporters are not decent people, and are white supremacists.
He subsequently tweeted that the president is a “draft-dodging degenerate fascist.” It is sad that this has become acceptable language of Democrats today to describe the President of the United States. Perhaps even worse is that my councilman’s chief of staff uses similar language to describe those that support Trump, which includes many constituents.
For example, I was recently waiting on a long line at a Bay Ridge Walgreens when I heard several women loudly expressing their support for President Trump. They said they were tired of the Democratic hypocrisy of not allowing people to go to church, celebrate graduations, drink at a bar, or eat in a restaurant, while having no problem with the mass protests. This makes them common sense Americans, not indecent people.
Most Trump supporters also back law enforcement, and oppose looting, the tearing down of statues of our Founding Fathers, and the takeover of blocks in an American city like in Seattle. This makes us responsible and proud Americans, not white supremacists.
During my time as a senior staffer to former Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and former Congressmembers Vito Fossella and Bob Turner, I knew my public words also reflected on them. I also knew that none of them would tolerate a staffer so blatantly insulting their constituents.
The question is will Brannan?
Bob Capano has worked for Brooklyn Republican and Democrat elected officials, and has been an adjunct political science professor for over 15 years. Follow him on twitter @bobcapano.
