A candidate who can’t lead within his own party

Northport, L.I.: Some say New York Republicans have no sense of humor, but I think they just need to rewrite their material. They have to be kidding, right? Because who can take them seriously given all we know? State GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy wisecracked at their recent convention that his party should “start acting like the Ukrainians” and “fight in this election like our freedom, our lives and our futures depend on it because they do.”

That’s no joke. Our democracy is threatened. But the punchline is that the culprits here at home are the pro-Putin wing of the Republican Party and their far-right extremist bootlickers. To appease this fascist fan club, Rep. Lee Zeldin, Trump’s toady — if not his caddy — got tapped for governor. That’s no laughing matter. This conservative Republican congressman, an Army reservist, did not have the courage to defend our Constitution and confirm in public that Biden won a free and fair election. Nor did he support the committee to investigate the disgusting Jan. 6, 2021 attack incited by the most corrupt president in American history, which put the Long Island politician and all his colleagues on Capitol Hill in grave danger.

And as for supporting Ukraine, Zeldin voted against impeaching Trump, who wanted to deprive Ukraine’s heroic leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, of military aid in 2019 so he could dig up dirt on Joe Biden’s son. Does Zeldin agree with Trump that Putin is a “genius” and “very savvy” and “smart”? After all, his supporters wear orange because it apparently reminds them of Cadet Bone Spur’s unnatural skin tone.

Now that’s funny.