McCreight: GOP pols should reject Trump

March 3, 2016 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

District leader candidate Chris McCreight is offering advice to elected officials on the other side of the political aisle. Photo courtesy of McCreight

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Chris McCreight, a candidate for Democratic district leader in the 46th Assembly District (AD), is looking at things taking place on the other side of the political aisle and does not like what he’s seeing.

McCreight is calling on Republican elected officials who represent Brooklyn to pledge to not support Donald Trump for president, even if the billionaire real estate developer wins the GOP nomination this summer.

McCreight, a Bay Ridge resident and political campaign strategist who last month announced his plan to run for the post of Democratic district leader of the 46th AD (Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Coney Island), said there is no place in Brooklyn politics for a candidate like Trump.

McCreight spoke out on March 2, the day after Trump won seven primaries on Super Tuesday.

“It’s been several days since Donald Trump failed to disavow the KKK. After last night’s Super Tuesday victories, it’s time for every elected official, including Republicans, to stand up and say they will not support Donald Trump for president, even if he is the Republican nominee. We may not agree on everything, but surely Democrats and Republicans can agree that the KKK has no place in our politics in Brooklyn,” McCreight said.

On Feb. 28, Trump appeared to waver in disavowing an endorsement from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, telling Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he didn’t know enough about Duke and would have to look into the matter. Two days earlier, however, he stated at a press conference that he had rejected the Duke endorsement.

McCreight called for the creation of a “Dump Trump” movement.

“This is one of those times when everybody must put the good of the country above political parties. Donald Trump must be stopped,” he said.

Leaders of the Fiorello LaGuardia Republican Organization, a Republican club founded by Brooklyn GOP Chairman Arnaldo Ferraro, aren’t likely to take McCreight’s advice.

They recently announced their endorsement of Trump, who after Super Tuesday became the dominant front runner for the GOP nomination.

Ferraro urged New York state GOP voters, who head to the polls on April 19 for the Republican presidential primary, to look past the storm of controversy surrounding Trump and focus instead on his message.

The club leadership was impressed by Trump’s stand on issues, according to Ferraro.

“There is pride in stating that we need to protect our borders, our veterans and working middle-class families. Strengthening our military and protecting the interest of the American people is certainly of patriotic significance,” Ferraro said.

Anthony Bove, Republican district leader of the 46th AD, said Trump “presents issues in a realistic form without fear of political correctness or beating around the bush like so many other candidates do.”