Former President Trump lashed out Tuesday night after Democrats were projected to flip the New York House seat formerly held by disgraced ex-Rep. George Santos (R).
Trump in a Truth Social post branded the Republican candidate in the special election in New York’s 3rd Congressional District a “very foolish woman,” chiding her for distancing herself from the former president.
“Republicans just don’t learn, but maybe she was still a Democrat?” Trump wrote. “I have an almost 99% Endorsement Success Rate in Primaries, and a very good number in the General Elections, as well, but just watched this very foolish woman, Mazi Melesa Pilip, running in a race where she didn’t endorse me and tried to ‘straddle the fence,’ when she would have easily WON if she understood anything about MODERN DAY politics in America.”
Mazi Pilip, who lost to former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D) on Tuesday night, had been registered as a Democrat since 2012, according to City & State New York. She kept Trump at an arm’s length throughout the race in the toss-up district, which went for President Biden in the 2020 election.
However, she did acknowledge during an interview with Fox 5 that Trump “did great things for the country,” according to Politico.
“MAGA, WHICH IS MOST OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, STAYED HOME – AND IT ALWAYS WILL, UNLESS IT IS TREATED WITH THE RESPECT THAT IT DESERVES,” Trump wrote Tuesday night. “I STAYED OUT OF THE RACE, ‘I WANT TO BE LOVED!’ GIVE US A REAL CANDIDATE IN THE DISTRICT FOR NOVEMBER. SUOZZI, I KNOW HIM WELL, CAN BE EASILY BEATEN!”
The special election was seen as a possible bellwether ahead of November. Pilip sought to tie Suozzi to Biden, who has suffered from low approval ratings throughout his presidency, and hammered him over immigration.
Suozzi, too, made a conscious effort to distance himself from Biden. He ran as a moderate dealmaker and publicly backed the bipartisan border deal that Republicans promptly tanked.
The race comes as the country braces for the likelihood of a Biden-Trump rematch. Fears over Biden’s age were renewed last week after a special counsel report raised concerns over his memory.
Trump, meanwhile, has raised alarm bells over his efforts to reshape the GOP after backing ally Michael Whatley, as well with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to be the new leaders of the Republican National Committee.