Recently, a local right-wing newspaper published an outrageously false article claiming that a bus full of “migrants” had been transported from New York City to the Port Washington and Roslyn Long Island Railroad stations.
That article was quickly debunked by the Port Washington Police Department, and many of the “facts” – and even the picture used – were found to be taken from a real event that occurred thousands of miles away in Los Angeles this past August. The newspaper has since removed the article from its website.
Without making any apparent effort to verify the sources, Dave Franklin, who is running on the GOP ticket led by Supervisor Jennifer DeSena for a seat on the North Hempstead Town Board presently held by Mariann Dalimonte, shared the article in a post to his campaign’s social media page.
Mr. Franklin later acknowledged that the article was indeed false, but did not immediately delete his post despite comments from multiple individuals (myself included) urging him to do so.
That evening, Mr. Franklin appeared to hide those critical comments and did not take the post down until several hours later.
To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Franklin has made no public statement condemning the newspaper for publishing a false story or apologizing for sharing it.
Mr. Franklin’s decision to share this dubious article, and not to remove it from social media immediately upon discovering that it was false, is unacceptable for an individual seeking to hold public office.
To be clear, there is legitimate room for disagreement over what we can or should do to support individuals who have crossed the United States border illegally while they are awaiting action by immigration authorities.
But peddling misinformation to North Hempstead residents suggesting that this issue has already come right to their doorstep can only be intended to sow division, anger, and fear.
This is part of a worrying trend for Mr. Franklin, who has also refused to confirm that Joe Biden was legitimately elected president in 2020 or that climate change is real. The people of North Hempstead deserve better.
This November, I will be voting for Mariann Dalimonte, a proven leader who has dedicated herself over the past four years to improving life in North Hempstead. I urge others in this district to do the same.
Marc Sittenreich
Port Washington
Even more outrageous, the local right-wing newspaper just re-published its outrageously false article, and the republican slate has done nothing to distance itself from these repeated fear-mongering falsehoods.
Bad enough we have Santos. No more Trumpists to hold office on the North Shore. Mr. Franklin should move to Medford.
And where is Jen DeSena in all of this? Is she disavowing Franklin? Crickets, right? None of the republican ticket here is fit to lead. They are all just followers.