Robert Smullen

Robert Smullen is campaigning to succeed Congresswoman Elise Stefanik in New York’s 21st Congressional District, masquerading as a conservative Republican and Trump-aligned candidate. But President Donald J. Trump has already endorsed Smullen’s opponent, Anthony Constantino, giving Constantino his “Complete and Total Endorsement” in the GOP primary.

A review of Smullen’s New York State Assembly record may help explain why. Smullen’s Albany record shows repeated votes with radical Islamist and then Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani on legislation tied to DEI, transgender funding, green new deal climate policy, gender-neutral language, prostitution-related amnesty, and the statute later used by E. Jean Carroll to sue President Trump.

The sharpest contradiction in Smullen’s record is his desperate attempt to compare himself to President Trump.

At a recent debate, when Constantino questioned Smullen’s arrest for Felony Tax Fraud, Smullen compared it to what he described as the same weaponization of law enforcement that President Trump faced.

“Just like President Trump was persecuted by law enforcement for his taxes. It’s happened repeatedly. The system was weaponized against me in my primary campaign in 2018,” Smullen said.

Smullen’s Trump comparison is absurd.

President Trump faced lawfare. Smullen got caught allegedly defrauding fellow taxpayers by claiming a veterans’ property tax exemption that he was not entitled to.

The hypocrisy is even worse because Smullen voted for the Adult Survivors Act, the New York law later used by E. Jean Carroll to sue President Trump. So Smullen now tries to compare himself to President Trump, while his own Albany vote helped create one of the legal weapons later used against Trump.

That was not the only major vote where Smullen aligned with jihadists and now New York City Mayor Mamdani.

Smullen voted yes with Mamdani on S01359, legislation creating New York’s Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice. The bill established a new DEI-style state bureaucracy to coordinate changes in “policy, practice, and allocation of state resources” through a racial-equity and social-justice framework.

Smullen voted yes with Mamdani on A05909, legislation establishing a chief sustainability officer to coordinate state-agency efforts on climate mitigation and sustainability.

Smullen voted yes with Mamdani on S08884A, legislation establishing the Transgender and Gender Non-Binary Wellness and Equity Program and Fund.

Smullen voted yes with Mamdani on S08884, an LGBT training mandate for healthcare workers.

Smullen even crossed the line into decriminalizing crime, voting yes with Mamdani on S1351, legislation repealing New York’s loitering law related to prostitution offenses.

Smullen voted yes with Mamdani on A08272, to scrub traditional words like “councilman” from state law to satisfy the gender-neutral language police, replacing them with “council member” or “council members.”

On issue after issue, Smullen was not fighting the woke left. He was voting with it.

Most bizarrely, while local families struggle, Smullen paved over pristine farmland to build a massive, taxpayer-funded solar farm right on his own property. By getting accepted into New York’s progressive “Solar for All” program, Smullen locked in a lucrative, 100% property-tax exemption that runs all the way through 2033.

When confronted at the CBS6 debate regarding his massive solar farm and his taxpayer funding, an upset Smullen didn’t deny it. Instead, he openly validated his self-serving view of public office, defensively telling the audience that his opponent was simply pillorying him for “doing things that are good for my family.” At that same debate, Smullen refused to shake his opponent’s hand.

This total disregard for the public interest explains his true, self-serving motivation for running for higher office. During his campaign launch, when pressed by a reporter on why he wanted Elise Stefanik’s seat in Congress, Smullen completely failed to mention public service, securing the border, or protecting Upstate New York. Instead, he made a stunning, careerist admission, stating that the congressional race was simply “the opportunity of a lifetime for me” that only comes around every ten years.

Despite Smullen’s blatant careerism and anti-Trump record, the New York State GOP, who last won a statewide office in 2002, 24 years ago, is now misappropriating House leadership money to attack Anthony Constantino, the Trump-endorsed candidate. Nearly a dozen mailers have been sent out lying about Anthony Constantino and simultaneously boosting Robert Smullen. All of these mailers carry the same disclaimer, revealing that they are paid for by the New York Republican Federal Campaign Committee.

Those mailers also directly drive voters to Robert Smullen’s campaign website, which raises serious legal questions under Federal Election Commission rules about republishing or distributing a candidate’s own campaign materials.

FEC records show that more than half of the NYS GOP committee’s funding this cycle, totaling over $1.5 million, came directly from House GOP leadership-linked fundraising committees. These funds are intended to grow the Republican majority and fight the radical left, not to be spent against President Trump’s endorsed candidate.

This underhanded operation is allegedly being coordinated by Michael Zembricki, the GOP’s New York State Director. Zembricki claims to also be a senior advisor to Team Trump, yet he is actively helping Ed Cox, the NYS GOP Chairman undermine President Trump’s endorsed candidate. Zembricki apparently holds Ed Cox in such high regard that his own profile photo on X is a picture of the two of them.

Between his record of voting alongside the radical left to establish DEI, his role in enabling the very legal framework used to attack President Trump, his arrest for Felony Tax Fraud, and his personal career ambitions, the truth about Robert Smullen is clear. He isn’t an America First conservative. He is a political opportunist looking out for himself.

And that is exactly why President Trump gave his complete and total endorsement to Anthony Constantino, and why the voters of NY-21 should reject Robert Smullen’s attempt at a promotion and pay raise.

Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

You can email Jim Hoft here, and read more of Jim Hoft's articles here.

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