New York Congressman Mike Lawler spoke to News 4 about an old photo of him from college that has sparked new controversy, as he donned blackface to dress up as Michael Jackson for a Halloween party in 2006. His opponent, Mondaire Jones, also weighed in for the first time on the controversy. NBC New York’s Sarah Wallace reports.
For the first time since the blackface controversy for New York Congressman Mike Lawler surfaced, his Democratic opponent in the upcoming election offered his thoughts on the matter.
"Mike Lawler knew exactly what he was doing," said Mondaire Jones, a former U.S. Representative locked in a tight race in the state's 17th district in the Hudson Valley against Lawler, a Republican.
Lawler initially issued an apology on Thursday, describing himself as a lifelong Jackson superfan who was attempting to pay homage to the pop star.
“When attempting to imitate Michael’s legendary dance moves at a college Halloween party eighteen years ago, the ugly practice of black face was the furthest thing from my mind. Let me be clear, this is not that,” he said, adding that the costume was intended as “a genuine homage to one of my childhood idols.”
“I am a student of history and for anyone who takes offense to the photo, I am sorry,” Lawler said Thursday. "All you can do is live and learn, and I appreciate everyone’s grace along the way.”
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
On Friday, Lawler expanded upon his apology, telling NBC New York "Obviously, in hindsight I certainly recognize how people would portray that and be offended by it, so certainly I apologize.”
The congressman did not deny that he darkened his face for a costume in which he dressed as the singer for a 2006 Halloween party, when he was 20 years old.
"When I was a sophomore in college, we had a Halloween dance party and I dressed up as my musical idol, Michael Jackson. [I] had the red leather jacket and took a friend's bronzer and applied some makeup and, you know, partook in a dance contest," he told News 4.
Lawler, a first-term Republican who won office in 2022 and has since become a mainstay on cable news shows, has been a well-documented Jackson devotee for much of his life. He said he has a wall of his heroes in his Washington D.C. office, which includes an Andy Warhol painting of Michael Jackson.
"The intent was in no way to demean or malign black Americans but to pay homage to the greatest entertainer of all time," Lawler said. "I wish this didn’t happen but you know, hindsight is 20-20. Yeah, I wouldn’t do it, but I can’t change what happened 18 years ago.”
Last year, The Daily Beast reported on Lawler's Jackson obsession. A biography of the pop icon, “Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story” told of how Lawler, at age 18, flew from New York to California to attend Jackson's criminal trial after the musician was charged with molesting a child. In the biographer's account, Lawler was “so disgusted” with some of the testimony “that he couldn’t help but mutter something derogatory under his breath" and was thrown out of the courtroom.
Jones, who is Black, did not appear to be buying Lawler's apology or explanation for why he did it.
"He knew it was wrong, and is only upset because he got caught doing it and not because he actually engaged in offensive behavior," Jones told NBC New York, in his first comments on the controversy.
The two candidates will face off in four debates before Election Day, during which the controversy can be expected to be front and center.
Blackface minstrelsy took hold in New York City in the 1830s and became popular among post-Civil War whites, though it was regarded as offensive to Black people from the beginning of its use.
Several politicians and celebrities have been criticized for wearing blackface.
Anthony Izaguirre of The Associated Press contributed to this report.
