CAMPBELL HALL – Gerard Kassar, New York’s Conservative Party Chairman, is a Brooklyn-born, longtime political operative known for being outspoken.
Kassar has his opinions and they were on full display during a roundtable with party members on Thursday afternoon. He was joined on the dais by Orange County Orange County Conservative Committee Chairwoman Grace White, Congressional candidate Alison Esposito (NY-18), and Tom LaPolla, who is running for State Assembly (District 99). Esposito and LaPolla have been endorsed by the Republican and Conservative parties.
As Kassar arrived in Orange County, a New York jury was deliberating on former president Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial. Later, Trump was convicted on all 34 felony charges.
Kassar said he was at Trump’s side in the courtroom less than two weeks ago.
“The judge has been very prejudicial,” Kassar said. “There has never been a successful argument made, in my view to indicate that (Trump) should be convicted. From a political perspective, whether he is convicted of a crime, if there is a hung jury, or if he is innocent, politically Americans are sick and tired of this charade. He is gaining strength, although nobody would want to go through this route.”
Kassar still predicted a November win for the now-convicted Trump, who is facing off against Joe Biden.
“I think he’s competitive in states that no one thought he would be competitive in,” Kassar said. “I have been to his rallies and I have spent time with him. This is not just about (Trump). People are uncomfortable with the Biden administration going forward.”
Kassar and the party took aim at Monroe’s Timothy Mitts, a candidate for the 42nd State Senate District currently held by Democratic State Senator James Skoufis of Cornwall. In April, Mitts filed Conservative petitions to appear on the ballot in a primary election on June 25th against endorsed Conservative and Republican candidate Dorey Houle of Monroe. Mitts changed his party affiliation from Republican to Conservative on February 14th.
“Timothy Mitts changed his party affiliation because it was the last day you could do it,” White said. “He told me it was for God and his country, which was a line of BS. (Mitts) wanted us to rescind our endorsement of Dorey. I do not know where he stands on any issues, he just came out of nowhere.”
Reached by phone, Mitts responded to the barbs, stating, “Apparently, I am a threat. I must be a threat to the ballot because you would not be going out of your way to criticize me if I wasn’t.”
The roundtable lasted about 45 minutes and the panel took questions from the media and members of the Orange County Conservative Party.
“It’s more than exciting that Jerry Kassar came here to support us today,” Esposito said. “It’s a feeling that everyone is all in and Jerry has been all in since day one. It underscores how important the issues are that are plaguing New York State and all Americans. We believe that government’s job is to protect the people and we feel that isn’t happening right now.”
