NY-21 Democrat Gendebien Rejects Socialists: ‘Absolutely Nuts’

Democratic Congressional candidate Blake Gendebien is making it clear that voters in New York's 21st Congressional District shouldn't confuse him with the Democratic Socialists making headlines in New York City and around the country.

In fact, the North Country dairy farmer says some of what he's hearing from that wing of the political left is "absolutely nuts."

Gendebien, the Democrat running against Trump backed Republican Anthony Constantino for the sprawling Upstate New York congressional seat, made the comments during an interview Friday on Keeler in the Morning.

It came at the very end of the interview, but it might have been his most revealing answer.

Gendebien has spent much of this campaign presenting himself as a different kind of Democrat. He's a farmer and small business owner who talks about securing the border, deporting violent criminals who are in the country illegally, protecting Fort Drum and Griffiss, and working with Republicans when he believes it's good for Upstate New York.

So, what does he think about the Democratic Socialists of America and some of the rhetoric coming from the far left?

"I live six hours away from New York City," Gendebien said. "I don't know anything about what's going on down there. I had never even heard of DSA until a few months ago."

Then he went a step further.

"I think that some of that stuff is absolutely nuts and I'm not afraid to say it," he said.

Gendebien also offered a very personal reason why socialism isn't exactly an easy sell in his household.

"My wife escaped communism as a kid," he said. "She left Cuba and as a kid escaped communism. I can pretty much guarantee she didn't do that to be with a socialist or a communist."

"So I reject a lot of those things," Gendebien added, "and I'm focused on what's best for the North Country."

A Democrat Trying to Separate Himself From the National Party

That answer could become important in a congressional district that has been reliably Republican and strongly supportive of President Donald Trump.

Gendebien isn't running as a national Democratic figure. In fact, throughout Friday's interview he repeatedly tried to bring the conversation back home, to agriculture, jobs, immigration, the military and the cost of living in Upstate New York.

He says voters he's meeting across the district are tired of partisan politics.

"They want somebody who's going to work together for once and not be a rubber stamp for either party," Gendebien said.

He pointed to the massive Chobani project planned for Rome as an example. His argument is pretty simple. Make the investment successful and don't worry about which political party gets to take credit.

"Let's roll out the red carpet, and let's get that done," he said. "That's what people want. They're tired of this garbage, the partisan garbage."

Immigration is another issue where Gendebien doesn't necessarily sound like a traditional Democrat.

"Yes, we've got to secure the border," he said. "That's critically important."

He also believes violent criminals who are in the United States illegally should be deported.

But there's another side to the immigration issue that Gendebien says Washington continues to ignore. American farmers need workers, and increasingly, he says, those workers are difficult to find.

That's something he knows firsthand.

Gendebien operates a dairy farm where his family milks about 500 cows and farms roughly 1,200 acres. During the interview, he pushed back against Constantino campaign claims that comments he made nearly 15 years ago showed that he doesn't like American workers.

Gendebien says that's simply not true.

He said the old interview was about a problem farmers were facing then, and one they continue to face today.

"A lot of Americans don't want to do those jobs," Gendebien said. "But there are people that do want to do them, and we need them completed."

His answer is a legal guest worker system tied to employment.

Gendebien said workers could legally come into the country for a defined period, perhaps 12 or 24 months. That would give farmers and other employers a more reliable workforce while still maintaining immigration controls.

There are limits, though.

Asked what should happen when a worker's legal authorization expires, Gendebien was pretty clear.

"There are rules of enforcement," he said.

When the authorized period ends, he said the worker should return home or go through the proper process to re-enroll. If that doesn't happen, there have to be consequences.

The Constantino Factor

This race is already getting nasty, and we're not even to Labor Day.

Constantino came out of a bitter Republican primary against Assemblyman Robert Smullen and is closely aligned with Trump. Now, the Republican nominee's attention has turned to Gendebien.

One of the newest attacks involves artificial intelligence.

Gendebien blasted an AI manipulated video released by Constantino that used real footage of the Democrat, then altered it to make him appear to say things he never said.

According to Gendebien, the original footage came from remarks he made months earlier calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

"Anthony put out a deep fake," Gendebien said. "He can't run on his own ideas. So he's manufacturing mine."

He called the finished product "monstrous" and "disgusting."

And Gendebien expects more of it.

During the interview, I asked him a question candidates aren't normally anxious to answer. What is Constantino going to uncover? Is there some secret in Gendebien's past that his opponent is going to use to dirty him up once the general election campaign gets into full swing?

His answer was interesting.

"You know what he's going to find out?" Gendebien responded.

He's going to find out, Gendebien said, that he has a wife who is his best friend, three boys and a farm where the family milks 500 cows and farms 1,200 acres.

"He's going to find out that this district is very important to me, and I'm going to work with anybody to make sure that it's an absolute success," he said.

Then he predicted Constantino would continue trying to distract voters from that message.

"The only thing he can do is create deep fake AI videos that will put words into my mouth," Gendebien said.

A Poll That Has People Talking

There's another reason this congressional race is getting more attention.

A recent WNYT NewsChannel 13 and SurveyUSA poll discussed during Friday's interview showed Gendebien with a narrow four point advantage over Constantino.

Gendebien told us the poll had him leading 43 percent to 39 percent.

That's notable in NY-21, a district Republicans have been accustomed to controlling.

What pleased Gendebien wasn't just the four point margin. He pointed to the political makeup of the people surveyed and argued that the results show his message is reaching beyond Democratic voters.

"It shows that my message of wanting to do what is best for the North Country and Upstate New York is the right message," he said.

Gendebien said more Republicans than Democrats were surveyed, yet the poll still showed him ahead.

Constantino has rejected the poll and claims he has a significantly larger lead of his own.

Of course, an August poll doesn't decide a November election.

It does, however, make the race a lot more interesting.

Griffiss, Fort Drum and Veterans

For voters in the Mohawk Valley, another part of the conversation hit especially close to home.

What happens to Griffiss?

Gendebien said he wants the federal government to continue supporting redevelopment at Griffiss in Rome while also looking for opportunities to bring additional military assets and investment back to the former Air Force base.

"I want to be involved in supporting Griffiss Air Force Base and making sure that we don't lose any more and perhaps try to bring more back," he said.

He was just as emphatic when talking about Fort Drum.

Gendebien called the Army installation a critical part of the North Country economy and promised to fight to protect it.

"I will be right there, step by step with the greatest Army post in the nation, in my opinion, to make sure that it continues to be vibrant and viable and effective for years to come," he said.

He also pointed to the district's large veteran population and said Washington has an obligation to keep the promises made to the men and women who served.

So, What Kind of Democrat Is Blake Gendebien?

That might ultimately be one of the biggest questions in this race.

Constantino has every political incentive to connect Gendebien to the most progressive voices in New York City and Washington.

Gendebien seems equally determined not to let that happen.

His argument to voters is that the politics being debated hundreds of miles away don't necessarily describe a dairy farmer from Lisbon.

He's willing to say the border needs to be secured.

He supports deporting violent criminals who are in the country illegally.

He says workers who violate the terms of a legal guest worker program have to face consequences.

He's talking about protecting Fort Drum and Griffiss, helping farmers find legal workers and making sure the massive Chobani investment in Rome succeeds.

Then there's socialism.

When given an opportunity to dodge the question, change the subject or offer the kind of carefully worded answer we've come to expect from politicians, Gendebien didn't do it.

He called some of what's happening on the far left "absolutely nuts."

Then he brought it back to his wife, who escaped communist Cuba as a child.

"I can pretty much guarantee she didn't do that to be with a socialist or a communist," Gendebien said.

For a Democrat trying to win one of the more Republican congressional districts in New York State, that answer tells voters quite a bit about how Blake Gendebien plans to run this race.
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