Eleven Local Leaders Pen Letter Demanding An Apology From John Mannion After Labeling Constituents “ignorant”

By Liam O’Connor

Eleven Town Supervisors and Local Mayors in Senate District 50, are demanding an apology from Democrat
Senator John Mannion after he was caught making flagrantly disrespectful comments regarding his constituents,
calling them “ignorant” because of their concern about the national migrant crisis. His comments came in the
early months of his candidacy for New York’s 22nd Congressional District.

In June, Town of Salina Supervisor Nick Paro received a call from the Office of New York City Mayor Eric
Adams: migrants were to be bussed to a hotel in his community within days. In partnership with local leaders in
Town and County Government, Paro spoke up and fought to block the influx that his community was not
prepared for and never signed up to take on. This effort was a success and the judge granted a temporary
restraining order to block the proposed hotel from housing migrants.

Publicly, Democrat State Senator and candidate for Congress in NY-22, John Mannion, indicated support for the
local leaders, saying that “local governments should not have to manage this crisis,” and calling the situation, “a
policy failure playing out in real time.” But privately, in an apparent attempt to shore up the Democratic base
on a zoom call with local Democrats, Mannion contradicted himself and insulted his constituents for their
concerns, referring to their “ignorance.”

“Calling your own constituents “ignorant” because of their concerns is not only disrespectful, but flies in the
face of the principles of open dialogue and constructive engagement that we should all promote… We kindly
request that you publicly address and apologize for the comments made in the private video,” Paro and his
fellow local leaders wrote.

In his private comments, Mannion acknowledges that his constituents are deeply concerned about the crisis,
saying “I represent those very Republican areas…when you go into those rooms, you know, they are fearful that
buses of migrants are going to come into where they live and change their community.”

Download Letter to Senator Mannion

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