Mazi Pilip Won't Answer Any Substantive Questions-- Refuses Debates
Thousands of Long Island voters have complained they had no idea what they were voting for when they pulled the lever in 2022 for George Santos. The result was catastrophic. And, exactly as they did with Santos (or whatever his name is), the Nassau County Republican Party machine is trying to sell the voters another pig in a poke. Mazi Pilip, an Ethiopian-Israel registered Democrat with little to no familiarity with the issues Congress is grappling with, has spent the campaign avoiding questions from the media.
She and Democrat Tom Suozzi— former Nassau County Executive and congressman— have been invited to participate in several TV and radio debates. The Suozzi campaign announced it has accepted, enthusiastically, scheduled debates to be broadcast by WABC, WNBC/Telemundo, NY1/WNYC and News12 for the February 13 special election to replace the disgraced/expelled Santos. Early voting begins February 3. The only debate Pilip was agreed to participate in is the News12 debate on February 8— after thousands of people will have already voted… and just 5 days before Election Day. So no broadcast TV at all— and a schedule to hide from tough questions and leave the voters in the dark— just as Santos did. It's all about putting something over on the voters again.
It’s worth mentioning that the New York Republican Party, as part of their on-going war against democracy, has moved to prevent early voting, something working families need.
The Suozzi campaign noted to the media that “Mazi Pilip needs to let the people of Nassau and Queens know where she stands on the issues. Participating in only one cable debate that is five days before the election and five days after early vote begins is unacceptable. Why is Mazi Pilip hiding? [She] has spent the short time she has been in this race either refusing to answer questions or talking out of both sides of her mouth… We’ve seen that kind of candidate before, George Santos, and voters demand better.”
Local media has become exasperated with her continuous refusal to answer straight-forward questions. She won’t say whether or not she supports the Republican ban on abortions. She has refused to say if she voted for Trump or Biden in 2020. And the latest, a refusal to give a straight answer on a proposed assault weapons ban. Newsday asked the question and Pilip tried to have it both ways, answering by talking out of both sides of her mouth. Long Island’s biggest newspaper wrote “Pilip also did not directly answer whether she’d support a federal assault weapons ban, but said she was against civilians owning them.” That might be because she has been endorsed by the Nassau Conservative Party, which adamantly opposes all efforts to ban assault weapons.
Instead of answering questions that will help Long Island voters decide if she’s the right candidate, she spends her time in performative politics, obfuscating, stoking divisive nonsense about “the Squad,” demonizing immigrants (even if she and her family are immigrants themselves) and executing a campaign as though she were running for the Knesset or to be a Fox News anchor instead of for the U.S. Congress. She’s basically a one issue candidate and appears to think the campaign is about Israel not Nassau and Queens counties. On Fox Digital she touted herself as the best candidate to combat the Squad and tried making an absurd case that Tom Suozzi’s well-known moderate record is somehow not moderate but far left. She also refuses to answer questions about Santos or Trump. Her understanding of American political issues seems very minimal, which helps explain why the party bosses have decided that she has to avoid debates.