Carl Paladino on Eric Holder: 'F*ck Him. F*ck Him'
By nasty old New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino's standards, does saying "Fuck him," twice, on video, in reference to the U.S. Attorney General, even count as a "gaffe"? Nah, it's just Crazy Carl. Oy. Let's roll the clip.
National Journal got its hands on this clip from a Q&A Paladino held in March, before his unlikely Republican primary win — when very few were paying attention to him. (Obviously he would still say the same thing now, in a general election, with 20,000 cameras watching him.)
Starting around the 2:00 mark above, a fellow asks Paladino what he'd do if Attorney General Eric Holder planned civilian trials for accused terrorists (like Khalid Sheikh Mohammad) in New York City. Paladino's response isn't especially clear, but National Journal used its magical aural powers to transcribe it as such:
Questioner: "If you were the chief executive of New York, what would your response be to the attorney general of the United States deciding to hold terrorist trials in Manhattan?"
Paladino: "Fuck him. Fuck him."
Curse words, everyone! At a very important figure! But can you really imagine Paladino responding any other way? That question seems meticulously designed to elicit a clear-and-cut "Fuck him. Fuck him" from Carl Paladino. Just completely involuntary.
As for the supremely important politics of this, well, most New York voters would agree with him wholeheartedly. And he gets along so well with his audience in this clip! You can see how he attracted enough of a following through these Q&A's to win his primary. But now he's on a bigger stage and people just think he's an asshole, the end.