A Staten Island newspaper may have endorsed Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) for Congress, but it wants to be clear: the best man for the job is not that great.
In an editorial published Thursday, the Staten Island Advance buried its endorsement of Grimm under a pile of disclaimers, caveats, and open regrets about the choice.
In one corner, the paper wrote, was Grimm — a “hot-headed” Republican looking at a 20-count indictment. In the other was Democrat Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. who the Advance painted as uninformed and opportunistic.
“That’s the choice voters have. And that’s the choice we have in making an endorsement in a race that could not be much uglier,” the editorial said.
The paper admitted the selection of Grimm felt “distasteful,” and wrote that the congressman’s indictments have made Staten Island “the laughingstock of the nation.”
In April, federal prosecutors charged Grimm with wire and mail fraud, tax fraud, perjury, and other counts.
Earlier in the year, when asked about the federal investigation by a reporter, the congressman threatened to throw his interviewer off a Capitol balcony.
He later addressed the incident during a debate, explaining: “Sometimes I get my Italian up.”
