Meet Carl Paladino-- The Utimate New York State Trumpist

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Not many people outside of New York have ever heard of Caril Paladino— and they’re better off for that. The aggressively senile far right 70 year old Buffalo realtor managed to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination against the hapless Rick Lazio in 2010. He went on to be absolutely shredded in the general election of Andrew Cuomo, losing 2,910,876 (61%) to 1,547,857 (32.5%). His senior adviser was well-known right-wing crackpot and Trump retainer, Roger Stone.

Paladino was a right-wing Democrat until 2005 when he finally figured out he was a Republican and officially switched parties. His gubernatorial campaign was as ugly as anyone could expect, trying to woo reactionary Hassidic rabbis, for example, with rabid denunciations of the LGBT community and marriage equality. He told a gaggle of right-wing rabbis in Brooklyn, “I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don't want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option— it isn't." He’s also vehemently anti-Choice and insists victims of rape and incest give birth to any resultant pregnancy. He’s an anti-education psychopath, a racist (with a special animus towards Asians for some reason), a Climate Change denier and an anti-regulations fanatic. So, of course, he was an enthusiastic Trump supporter and co-chaired Trump’s failed New York campaign.

While co-chairing Trump’s campaign, he threatened— in writing— Republican officials who refused to endorse Trump. This was part of an open letter to Republicans in Congress and the state legislature: "This is our last request that you join 'Trump for President' and try to preserve what's left of your pathetic careers in government." He later threatened too have Republican delegates killed if they didn’t support Trump. "I don’t trust our entire delegation… I’d certainly whack them if they went off the reservation."

In 2013 Paladino ran for the Buffalo school board from South Buffalo, a largely conservative blue collar, Irish-American area. His campaign was basically a screed against the teachers union with an ugly dose of racism. He won and was reelected— narrowly, by 132 votes— against an 18 year old high school senior, in 2016.

Trump has been running around screeching like a madman that Obama is a Muslim for years and this year famously tweeted that Attorney General Loretta Lynch should be lynched. So it should have come as no real surprise this week whe he told the editors of the Buffalo News, who have endorsed him and generally support his ugly racism, that the outrageous interview he gave Artvoice this week— which seemed like an Onion-like parody— was a straight up, for real interview with him.”Of course I did,” he said when asked if he had uttered the remarks. "Tell them all to go fuck themselves.”

Artvoice asked 4 questions but the two that have stirred up controversy and inspired some people to ask themselves how typical of Trump supporters Paladino is were 1- What would you most like to happen in 2017? And 2- What would you like to see go away in 2017?

The Buffalo area’s other participants answered the way you might normally expect a public figure to respond. Not Paladino:

1. Obama catches mad cow disease after being caught having relations with a Herford.  He dies before his trial and is buried in a cow pasture next to Valerie Jarret, who died weeks prior, after being convicted of sedition and treason, when a Jihady cell mate mistook her for being a nice person and decapitated her.

2. Michelle Obama.  I’d like her to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.

Of the 30 other participants, 4 mentioned they’d like to see Trump impeached and 5 said they’d like to see Trump disappear in 2017. A couple of people also mentioned how nice 2017 would be without Paladino and at least one person said they’d like to see him run for mayor. The Buffalo News:

Friday's response left many wondering about Paladino's political future.

"This is no longer a black issue, this is a community issue," said Warren Galloway, a Republican who was the local president of Jesse Jackson’s Operation PUSH. "This is a reflection of the whole community. As an African-American Republican, the party should sever ties with him."

The Artvoice comments are the latest example in a long history of Paladino making offensive statements, some of which caught national attention because of his role as a co-chairman in Donald J. Trump's New York State election campaign.

During the campaign, Paladino appeared on National Public Radio and described supporters of Trump as people frustrated with government who “want the raccoons out of the basement.” He described what’s happening in the presidential race as “a political revolution” aimed at getting rid of “the establishment class” within the Republican Party and ridding Washington, D.C., of “the Washington elite monsters.”

In June 2015, Paladino commented during a political rally in Olean about “damn Asians” and other “foreigners” attending the University at Buffalo.

Paladino also defended a then-Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority commissioner who used a racial epithet to describe several African-American politicians, including Mayor Byron W. Brown.

And during his run for governor in 2010, Paladino received national attention for circulating emails, including pornographic images, and one that included the use of the N-word.

“Paladino has a long history of racist and incendiary comments," Cuomo wrote in a statement Friday. "While most New Yorkers know Mr. Paladino is not to be taken seriously, as his erratic behavior defies any rational analysis and he has no credibility, his words are still jarring. His remarks do not reflect the sentiments or opinions of any real New Yorker and he has embarrassed the good people of the state with his latest hate-filled rage.

Earlier this week, Paladino was also criticized for introducing a resolution to mandate that all Buffalo Public Schools display a picture of Trump. Paladino served as co-chairman in President-elect Trump's New York State election campaign.

Such comments have lead to a push by some community members and a few of his colleagues on the Buffalo School Board to have him removed from the elected position. Earlier this year, the group devoted part of a committee meeting to discuss their legal options for his removal.

"The question we continue to ask is if we should have someone like this sitting on a board representing children," said board member Sharon Belton-Cottman. "The board sets a policy of expectations for student behavior. We expect them to be civil. We expect them to be courteous. And we should model that behavior.”

There has been some talk lately that the shock of not being offered a Cabinet post by Trump has sent Paladino, a gun-carrying walking freak-show, who expected to be Trump's running-mate, into a spiral of depression, rage and barely controllable insanity which isn’t likely to end well.