Images of Republican Rep. Mike Lawler surfaced on Thursday that seize the New York lawmaker in blackface as a part of a 2006 Halloween costume meant to depict pop celebrity Michael Jackson.
The problematic pictures, initially posted on Fb, have been obtained by The New York Occasions. In them, Lawler could be seen hanging an MJ-inspired pose whereas carrying a purple jacket, black shirt, and denims—with a clearly darkened face.
“When attempting to imitate Michael’s legendary dance moves at a college Halloween party eighteen years ago, the ugly practice of blackface was the furthest thing from my mind,” Lawler stated in a press release to Each day Kos. “Let me be clear, this is not that.”
Lawler, a self-described Jackson “super fan,” confirmed the pictures have been genuine and stated the costume was supposed to be “the sincerest form of flattery, a genuine homage to one of my childhood idols since I was a little kid trying to moonwalk through my mom’s kitchen.”
Rep. Mike Lawler walks down the Home steps on Sept. 12.
It ought to go with out saying, however dressing up in blackface has been understood to be a racist and reprehensible act for much longer than the previous 18 years. And to defend it by cowering behind pop star fandom is … a alternative.
In his assertion, Lawler referred to himself as “a student of history” and apologized “for anyone who takes offense to the photo” of him in blackface.
Lawler is at present working for reelection as Democrats search to retake the Republican-led Home this November. His swing seat is in New York’s seventeenth Congressional District, which President Joe Biden received by over 10 factors in 2020. Lawler’s Democratic opponent, Mondaire Jones, is a former congressman—who additionally occurs to be Black.
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