In a social media post, Nate McMurray, candidate for the NY-27 seat in the Nov. 3 General Election, accused his opponent Chris Jacobs of participating in a rally in Hamburg where Gov. Andrew Cuomo was, in McMurray's words, subjected to a "mock trial and lynching."
Except that even the heavily edited video McMurray posted shows the puppet hanging marionette-like from a crossbar, much like a puppeteer would operate.
Jacobs denied being at the rally at the time the life-sized puppet was brought onto the stage.
A spokesman for Jacobs issued the following statement:
“Rep. Jacobs spoke at the beginning of the event and left immediately after his remarks to attend another event in Monroe County. The puppet was not on display during his remarks.”
A person who was at the rally with Jacobs said Jacobs was at the event only long enough to speak, about five minutes, and left at least an hour before the puppet was brought out.
This afternoon, McMurray issued a press release accusing Jacobs of "hitting a new low."
“This district has a history of political climbers like Bill Paxon, Tom Reynolds, Chris Lee, and Chris Collins who used the communities and families of NY-27 for personal gain,” McMurray said. “But the hatefulness on display Saturday is a disgraceful new low. Chris Jacobs and his comrades have fully embraced the worst of Trumpism in Western New York.”
The rally was sponsored by the 1791 Society, a pro-Second Amendment group, and billed as an Anti-Cuomo event.
According to the Buffalo News, the marionette was brought to the rally by Melbourne Sann, of Rome, N.Y., who conducted a mock trial of Cuomo.
Sann, wearing a Revolutionary War uniform, asked for verdicts from the crowd on Cuomo's policies, ranging from abortion rights to bail reform. As the crowd yelled "guilty," a spectator struck the suspended figure in the lower back with a folded metal chair.
