While the Afghanistan evacuation crisis continues and then-Hurricane Henri approaching, Twitter took to criticizing the optics of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer dancing in the street with comedian Stephen Colbert.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's Bill Neidhardt tweeted the "backstage antics" of Schumer and Colbert from Central Park's "We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert," which had to be cut short after embattled Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for parts New York.
Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., who is running for governor, called on Schumer to "stop clowning around" and press President Joe Biden to sign an emergency declaration for the impending storm, tweeting:
"Maybe once @SenSchumer is done dancing with @StephenAtHome, he can call @POTUS & get him to sign the Pre-Landfall Emergency Declaration for our state. The current forecast is predicting a direct hit to Long Island by Hurricane Henri in hours. Stop clowning around & do something!"
U.S. veteran and GOP Senate candidate Sean Parnell rebuked the "tone deaf & embarrassing" display, tweeting:
"10,000 plus Americans are stranded in Afghanistan, surrounded by the enemy & desperate for help & this is what Senate Majority Leader @chuckschumer is doing. Dancing in the street with celebrities. Just so tone deaf & embarrassing for our nation."
The chairman of the New York State Young Republicans Peter Giunta was equally unimpressed by the moves by Schumer, 70, and Colbert, 57, tweeting:
"What an embarrassment — thousands of Americans are trapped millions of miles away in a war-torn country, the leader of the free world is 'on vacation' at Camp David, and @SenSchumer is dancing the night away. Our worst enemies are laughing at us."
Some noted Colbert's hypocrisy in the event, too, with a journalist tweeting: "Colbert buys into all the mask theater and yet he isn't wearing one."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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