Whatever Happened To Peter King's Presidential Run?

Fox News Sunday was unable to book anyone credible this past weekend so they got stuck with failed GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and Long Island neocon Peter King. King, as usual, was all about drumming up fear and panic in the hopes that his party will frighten enough people so that Republicans on Long Island can buck history and win races next November. King, as always, is eager to authorize domestic spying, particularly of mosques. He sounded a lot like Trump when he gave his racist schpiel about immigrants from Mexico and Central America and then again when he demanded 24/7 surveillance of Muslim-American communities.

Some of his best friends-- or one anyway-- are Muslims, he says. No doubt. He said people who care about constitutional protections can "cry all they want." He bitched about unspecified constraints on the police and Justice Department, although, presumably, it meant the U.S. Constitution. I suspect Justin Amash (R-MI), one of those guys who takes the Constitution seriously, had King's Fox performance on his mind yesterday when he tweeted a quote from James Madison: "[L]oss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad. -James Madison." Earlier, though, I think he had a different neocon on mind, Marco Rubio, when he warned his followers about authoritarians: "Governments have always used fear to curtail the rights of the people. We must not elect a fear-mongering president."

King's district , NY-02, has shifted east into Democratic-leaning parts of Suffolk County in the last redistricting. Many people in the new swing district don't know who he is. The district includes Ronkonkoma, Bayport and Sayville in the east before chugging west through Islip, Brentwood and into Nassau communities like Farmingdale, Babylon, Lindenhurst, Amyityville, Massapequa, Levittown and Seaford. Under these new lines, Obama won the district 51-48% against McCain and 4 years later won it 52-47% against Romney. Neighbor to the north, Steve Israel, is very close with King and always protects him and makes it impossible for credible Democrats to run against him. This cycle, DuWayne Gregory, the Suffolk County Legislature's Presiding Officer, has taken up the challenge and-- as usual with no help from the DCCC-- is taking on King. A lifelong progressive, you can contribute directly to his campaign here on the Blue America ActBlue page.

Although as recently as 2 weeks ago King said, "I’ve never considered Donald Trump part of the Republican Party in New York. I always considered him an entity unto himself," announced that his loyalty to the Republican Party comes before the good of the U.S. and that although he doesn't like what Trump stands for-- which isn't actually that different from what King himself stands for-- he will support him if he's the Republican Party nominee.

"Peter King's promise to support Donald Trump should he receive the Republican nomination is nothing short of despicable," said DuWayne Gregory. "Donald Trump's racism and misogyny should have no place in the White House. Congress is already mired in partisan gridlock, and a President Trump would only lead to an even more divisive government. I urge Peter King to re-consider his pledge and reflect on the toxicity that Donald Trump would bring to Washington."

But Trump is fine? King needs to get his head screwed on right