A Democratic congressional candidate in New York believes Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is a “child” and said he, like others, “have some of a sexist in us” after he was condemned for comments made about the Republican congresswoman in July.
“Elise, I recognize her, I’m not going to say a little girl, I recognize her as a child, and it has nothing to do with her age. I see her as a child because she’s a child,” Steve Krieg said during a candidate forum Oct. 3. “She thinks like a child. She has people set things up for her. She has people put their words in her mouth and she happily repeats them. I think, recognizing her, I would go after her in that way. I apologize if that’s mean, but that’s how I would do it.”
Krieg, an optometrist, was addressing backlash he received to a comment he posted on Stefanik’s Facebook page in July.
“I intend to kick your stingy, money-grubbing, sniveling coward of a butt out of congress,” he wrote. “Don’t worry, sweetie, you’re a little girl. You can always run home to Mommy and Daddy.”
Lenny Alcivar, a spokesman for Stefanik’s re-election campaign, responded to the message, saying New York’s 21st Congressional District “doesn’t need more partisan, political rhetoric,” according to the Press-Republican.
During the candidate forum Tuesday, Krieg said people accused him of being sexist because of his Facebook post about Stefanik, the youngest woman elected to Congress. But Krieg said many people, including himself, harbor sexist thoughts.
“I have been accused of being a sexist for calling Elise a little girl,” he said. “And I probably deserve to be called a sexist. I think most of us, if we admit it, have some of a sexist in us, some of the racist in us. It’s something, if we’re decent people we recognize in ourselves and we struggle with it all of our lives.”
According to the Press-Republican, Krieg, a member of the Plattsburgh City School District Board of Education, was a Republican but joined the Democratic Party. He is one of six Democrats running in the Democratic primary to challenge Stefanik in the 2018 midterms.
