You may have heard that Republican Congrssman Mike Lawler of New York has been found to have dressed up as Michael Jackson when he was in college, including the blackface. Yeah, Not good. The NY Times reports that Lawler was a Michael Jackson super fan — and I mean super fan, so you’d think he’d know better.
But get a load of this:
In 2005, as a high school senior, Mr. Lawler flew from New York to California to attend parts of Jackson’s criminal trial. The pop star had been charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy at his Neverland Ranch; the case ended in acquittal.
J. Randy Taraborrelli, a Jackson biographer, helped get Mr. Lawler into the courtroom and recalled in his book that the young fan had been “so disgusted” by testimony against Jackson “that he couldn’t help but mutter something derogatory under his breath.” Mr. Lawler was removed from the courtroom, according to Mr. Taraborrelli’s biography, “Michael Jackson: The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story.”
I’ve always gotten a strange vibe from this guy. There’s just something off about him. I mean, many people travel to see their musical idols perform, there’s nothing odd about that. But this was a high school senior who was such a fan that he traveled across the country to attend the molestation trial of his idol and hackled the witnesses! What?
I know we should be forgiving of what people do when they’re kids. But this is just creepy.
Lawler is in a tight race with former congressman Mondaire Jones. He’s recently become quite the Trump favorite. It should be a pick-up opportunity for the Dems.