He may have endeared himself to the Tea Party, but City Councilman Dan Halloran called his own judgment and character into question when he referred to state Assemblywoman Grace Meng as a “Chinese national” and said he suspected her of having dual citizenship.
Meng, a Democrat, is running against Halloran for a seat in Congress.
In an Aug. 21 interview with The Times of Israel, a Jerusalem-based online news publication, Halloran also said Meg was running an “ethnocentric campaign” focusing on Chinese voters.
The councilman might next accuse Meng of running a gender-centric campaign because recently she joined U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in Flushing to advocate for women-owned businesses.
They promoted the Success Act, federal legislation designed to help small business start-ups with tax breaks and deductions. They wanted to make certain that women entrepreneurs in Queens knew about and took advantage of the legislation.
The Halloran camp denies he made the ethnic comments and said he never accused his opponent of having dual citizenship. The Times of Israel stands by its story.
Meng was born in Corona and raised in Bayside, has never visited mainland China and does not hold dual citizenship. But facts have not stopped the Tea Party from trying to convince people that President Barack Obama was not a citizen even when the state of Hawaii verified his birth certificate.
Meng’s campaign fired back: “True to form, Dan Halloran has abandoned the issues in favor of a campaign rooted in bigotry, fear and lies — a desperate approach for a Tea Party Republican who cannot otherwise win on the issues.”
Halloran had more mud to throw. Speaking at a Republican club in Suffolk County Aug. 23, he brought up the recent indictment of Meng’s father, Jimmy Meng, even though Grace Meng had nothing to do with the alleged offense.
Politicians play to their bases. We see nothing wrong with Grace Meng having strong support in Flushing’s Asian-American community.
For the remainder of the campaign, we hope Halloran will focus on his record and what he plans to do for his district in Congress.
