Sky York Journal
There was at least one Republican who was pleased with the results of the midterm election — and he showed it with an absolutely unhinged speech laden with personal attacks and profanity.
While results were still not yet final in his House race, entrepreneur Anthony Constantino took to the stage at the headquarters of his online sticker company in Amsterdam, New York to declare victory. Constantino, who was the Republican nominee, also unloaded on a series of targets, including some who were in the room with him. Most of his ire was directed towards what he called the “evil media” and its coverage of his campaign.
“Listen you scumbags. Listen you scumbags. Telling people the truth is the right thing to do,” Constantino said at one point as he gestured towards the cameras lined up in the back of the room. “You assholes. … You’re a bunch of fucking assholes.”
The speech was captured on video by local CBS affiliate WRGB. Constantino’s remarks took an angry and vulgar turn as he was thanking allies, including the “Trump family,” Vice President J.D. Vance, who headlined a rally for him on Monday, and the infamous political consultant Roger Stone.
As Constantino praised Stone, who he hired as an adviser last year, the candidate brought up an article from the news outlet City & State. In that piece, which was published last month, reporter Kate Lisa referred to Stone’s reputation as an “asshole” as she detailed Constantino’s own fiery social media history.
“Roger Stone is a unique person in American history that’s been for some reason behind many of our great political leaders, and he’s misunderstood,” Constantino said. “Sometimes the evil media — particularly Kate Lisa — they call him an ‘asshole.’”
Constantino then turned the tables.
“I’ll be honest with you. I think Kate Lisa’s an asshole. She is,” he said.
But Constantino, a former boxer who built a reputation as a superfan of President Donald Trump by erecting a gigantic sign in support of the commander in chief and recording a rap album largely dedicated to cheering him, wasn’t done yet.
After taking on Lisa, Constantino aired his grievance with Robert Smullen, a Republican assemblyman who he defeated in the congressional primary earlier this year. Constantino noted that Smullen refused to shake his hand after their debate in May.
“Sorry, I got to say it: Robert Smullen’s not a good person … he wouldn’t shake my hand,” recounted Constantino.
Constantino then brought up his current opponent, Democrat Blake Gendebien.
“To be honest, Robert Smullen’s worse than Blake Gendebien — bad person,” said Constantino, adding, “Go hide in a hole Robert.”
Constantino’s race could end up being a rare bright spot for Republicans following a wave of Democratic victories in the election on Tuesday. The district, which is located along the Canadian border, has long been a Republican stronghold.
During his speech, Constantino explained that he expected to win by 20 points while his advisers accurately predicted a close race.
“I’m a very difficult boss,” Constantino said. “These guys put up with me.”
He then blasted Gendebien as “a guy that hates us.”
“I wanted to say directly to all the people that voted for Blake Gendebien — I got to be honest. I’m just an honest person. I’m not a politician. You all made a big mistake because you had a chance to vote for somebody that loves us, that’s created American jobs,” said Constantino, adding, “I love the American people. I love all people. I speak three languages … and Blake Gendebien hates us.”
Constantino then vowed to “spend the next two years winning you over” and “making you fall in love with me.”
“I also want you to know, it’s really not your fault that you made a big mistake. You made a big mistake because of something called evil media,” Constantino declared.
When he returned to the topic of the press, Constantino again began ramping up his insults. This was the moment he described reporters as “scumbags” and “fucking assholes” while gesturing around the room and accusing them of not questioning whether Gendebien really worked as a dairy farmer.
“To those of you in the evil media that aren’t bad people, guess what? I got news for you: you’re evil too because you won’t expose the bad ones amongst you,” Constantino said. “You all stayed quiet.”
Constantino, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TPM, then began singling out individual reporters, including some who were in the room with him.
“Look at that asshole right there. Him. Look at that guy. Take a picture of him,” Constantino said, before continuing, “Kate Lisa another fucking asshole.”
As Constantino went on, it seemed like the audio feed cut out in what may have been a brief instance of censorship as he railed against the press for being stuck up.
“People that talk like me get things done, and these pretentious … whatever you want to call them — they don’t know how to create jobs,” he said. “They don’t know how to make your life better. All they know how to do is destroy, because they can’t build, so they try to destroy.”
Constantino pointed out another reporter who he described as an “asshole.”
“He’s so angry right now. You can just see it in his eyes. You can just see it. He’s so angry. … He’s an asshole,” said Constantino.
He had a similar review of someone who he named as “Jeff.”
“He’s an asshole too,” Constantino explained. “Tell him I said it.”
After giving his assessment of “Jeff” and the other person, Constantino diagnosed the overall political climate.
“I’m going to tell you right now what it is … what’s going on in this country. There’s not a battle in this country between rich and poor. There’s not a battle in this country between Black and white. There’s not a battle in this country between Latino and otherwise. There’s not a battle in this country between gay and straight,” Constantino declared. “There’s a battle in this country between the powerful and the powerless and this group of assholes think they’ve got power.”
After this proclamation, Constantino again fixated on two people in the crowd in front of him.
“Look. He’s so angry. I can tell. Look at you. You’re looking at me with a death stare,” Constantino said. “You’re so angry. She thinks it’s funny. She has a good sense of humor. … He’s just an angry motherfucker.”
Constantino then offered something of an apology.
“Let’s be honest. Sorry. This is how real people talk,” he said. “And I built an incredible company and none of you have done anything. None of you have done what President Trump did. None of you have done what anyone done. You’re just a bunch of evil people that try to hurt your own state.”
Constantino further suggested the objects of his wrath were “just miserable” and friendless before turning back to the man who was allegedly staring at him.
“Actually, do me a favor. This guy is so — he’s looking at me,” Constantino said as he pointed at his audience. “Kick him out. Get him out of here. … You’re just a rude person. … If you want to be tough with me, get out. … I’m not playing games with you.”
As he ordered the offender removed from the room, Constantino revealed some of the reason for his anger. He accused the person of having “deleted two of my interviews” and said poor media coverage had caused him to spend “$17 million of my own money” on the race.
“How would you feel if you just had to spend $17 million because you guys are a bunch of lying assholes? You wouldn’t be very happy,” Constantino said.
While getting his gripes off his chest, Constantino acknowledged that his campaign staff might be unsettled by his unconventional tone.
“My consultants are a little stressed out,” said Constantino. “It’s OK. It’s a new day in America.”
Along with all of the insults, Constantino’s speech included brief appearances by UFC fighter Henry Cejudo and a Christian rapper who calls himself “Greatness.” And, after all of his various gripes, Constantino returned to something somewhat more conventional.
“As I enter Congress, I’m looking for big wins that get things done for the American people,” he said.
And the candidate revealed he already had a victory to present to the public.
“For all the hell we’ve been through, I’m issuing a $1,000 bonus to every single one of my Sticker Mule employees,” Constantino announced, adding, “And as a future congressman, I’m calling on every single company in the United States of America — particularly the large ones — to come forth and do the same. It’ll be incredible.”
Constantino stressed that he was only referring to businesses that could “sling it” and had “cash in the bank.” He rattled off a list of corporate giants including Home Depot, Walmart, Google, and Apple.
“Jeff Bezos, you think you’re MAGA now?” Constantino asked. “Cut a check to all of your employees.”
Then, Constantino had another announcement. It involved the rapper and hip hop mogul Diddy, who is currently serving a federal prison sentence for sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
“I’m fighting for New York. I want to bring people back to New York. I want to bring excitement back to New York. I want to bring jobs back to New York. And I got to say this … I think President Trump should consider freeing Diddy … a historic New Yorker that did great things for New York State,” Constantino said.
After that, Constantino had one more musical twist to close out his election night speech.
“A lot of people told me I couldn’t be here if I supported the hip hop community, if I like rap music,” he said. “They said there’s no way that a dude that raps could be a congressman in Northern New York. Well, it just happened.”
Constantino then invited “Greatness” to take the stage and perform a song about the congressional district. As the rapper took the microphone, Constantino’s extraordinary remarks came to a close. While Gendebien has reportedly conceded, despite the bombast, as of this writing, the Associated Press has not projected a winner in the race.
