Former President Trump Saturday issued a strong endorsement for former Republican Congressman Vito Fossella for New York’s Staten Island Borough President job.
“It is my great honor to endorse Vito Fossella for Staten Island Borough President,” Trump’s statement read.
On Tuesday, Republicans will vote in their primary to pick their candidate for the Borough President position.
Staten Island is one of New York’s five boroughs and the only one that reliably votes Republican. Trump carried the island by 57% of the vote in his 2020 race against Joe Biden.
Trump’s involvement in a local race is somewhat unusual, but Trump has long-time ties to the city where he was born and raised, and has known Fossella for decades.
In his statement Trump gave an unusually strong endorsement, stating Fossella is “strong, tough, loves our Country and truly loves the Great People of Staten Island — a powerful voice against crime and all other things going wrong in the city that we love.”
“Vito Fossella will not let you down. Vote for him now in the Republican Primary, which has already begun!”
Fossella is also backed by former Staten Island Borough President Jim Molinari.
Four candidates are vying for the Borough President job, including City Councilman Steve Matteo. Matteo has criticized Trump in the past.
Last week, Fossella appeared on Newsmax TV with author of “The Last Days of New York” Seth Barron decrying the City’s crime surge.
“We have many people running for office who want to outdo each other on defund the police,” Fossella told Newsmax. “We should be refunding the police and bring these communities back to the people who make it so strong, innocent victims, not criminals, he said.”
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