U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for New York governor, was attacked by a man who tried to stab him at an upstate event Thursday but was uninjured, his campaign said.
Zeldin was giving a speech when a man climbed onstage and appeared to begin wrestling with the congressman, said Katie Vincentz, a spokesperson for Zeldin's campaign.
A video of the event in Perinton posted on Twitter showed the man appearing to grab Zeldin's arm and the two fell to the ground as other people tried to intervene.
"Thanks to the swift action of several brave eventgoers, the perpetrator was subdued," New York GOP Chair Nick Langworthy said in a statement.
Zeldin's campaign said the attacker was taken into custody and the candidate resumed his speech.
Zeldin, an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who has represented eastern Long Island in Congress since 2015, is a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
He is challenging incumbent Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul in November.
In a statement, Hochul said: "Relieved to hear that Congressman Zeldin was not injured and that the suspect is in custody. I condemn this violent behavior in the strongest terms possible — it has no place in New York."
This report contains information from The Associated Press.
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