Democrats are torn on President Biden’s future reelection bid. With the Republican National Convention less than a week away, NBC New York’s Linda Gaudino sat with GOP leaders on Long Island to talk 2024 strategy leading up to Election Day.
President Joe Biden is facing a week of reckoning as a growing number of House Democrats are calling for him to step down just days before thousands of the opposing party congregate and strategize its next moves at the Republican National Convention.
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is set in Milwaukee for July 15-18 with an estimated 50,000 delegates, media, law enforcement, staff and visitors expected to attend, according to the city.
It is where the GOP will officially nominate former President Donald Trump as the party's running candidate for president, as well as vice president. While the shortlist for VP, according to reports, includes Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Gov. Doug Burgum (R), Trump has yet to announce his final decision.
“I haven’t made a final decision, but I have some ideas as to where we’re going,” Trump said on Monday during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, “And a little bit, you know, we wanted to see what they’re doing, to be honest," referring to the chaos on the Democratic side.
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Long Island's Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman still remembers his first RNC in 1976 under Gerald Ford and the last convention in August 2020 during the COVID pandemic with only 300 members in attendance.
Blakeman told NBC New York, during an interview at the county executive office in Mineola, that he "communicates with Trump on a regular basis" and that the former president is "very fond of Nassau County" as Long Island was part of a local red wave in last year's elections.
Typically, New York is considered a giveaway for the Democrats, but for the first time, Blakeman says not to count out the state in the 2024 presidential election.
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"For the first time, since Ronald Reagan, New York is in play in the general election," Blakeman said, noting top national topics like immigration policies and the migrant crisis that he says is impacting the greater New York City area.
Congressman Anthony D'Esposito represents New York's fourth district and says he has met with a handful of school board presidents and the Superintendent Association of Long Island on the incoming migrant children in education.
D'Esposito, a Republican, recalled on how those educators have felt the strain on the budget and resources, which may already be stretched thin.
"You're getting ten to 15 new students into your school district throughout the year who need English as a second language, who need more resources, who need more teachers -- that's out of their budget," Rep. D'Esposito told NBC 4 in an interview in Long Beach.
When asked who could step up to the plate alongside Trump on the GOP ticket, Blakeman referenced Sen. Rubio and Glenn Youngkin, the Republican governor of Virginia.
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives will be up for election with Republicans having a 220-213 majority. Three of four Long Island districts are red, leaving NY-03 blue from February's special election in which voters elected Tom Suozzi in the wake of the George Santos fiasco.
Blakeman claims Rep. Suozzi "tries to portray himself as a Republican" and is "right of center," which Blakeman suggests is called out when the campaign heats up against Mike LiPertri Jr., the Republican candidate for Congress in New York's 3rd congressional district.
NBC New York reached out to Congressman Suozzi's office for comment and Kim Delvin, senior advisor for Suozzi for Congress, said: "Petty partisan attacks don’t reflect reality. Congressman Suozzi has built a coalition of Democrats, Republicans and Independents who embrace his problem-solving approach, and he’s making good on his pledge to bring order to the border, repeal the SALT cap and work across the aisle to solve the big problems his constituents face."
