Republican Mazi Pilip, who lost the special election to fill ex-Rep. George Santos’s (R-N.Y.) House seat earlier this month, said not seeking former President Trump’s endorsement in the race was a “mistake.”
Pilip lost the race to Democratic former Rep. Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) by more than 7 points following a campaign in which Pilip somewhat distanced herself from Trump and refused to say if she voted for him in 2020 until shortly before Election Day.
“Fake news that I do not support Trump. I love Trump. Great President. My mistake not seeking his endorsement,” she tweeted Thursday.
Suozzi was sworn in Wednesday to his old House seat representing New York’s 3rd Congressional District. Suozzi represented the district for six years before not seeking reelection in 2022 while running an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign.
His addition to the House further narrows the Republican majority in the body to 219-213.
Pilip is a Nassau County legislator who was a registered Democrat until she changed her registration to officially become a Republican this week. She had been elected to her position as a Republican.
Though she did not actively seek Trump’s endorsement in the race, Pilip still defended him against the criminal charges that he is facing. She told CNN in an interview earlier this month that she knows he “didn’t commit any crime” and refused to say if she holds him responsible for the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
She also told the outlet that Trump is a “great president” and would appreciate if he would come to the district to help her campaign.
Trump called Pilip a “very foolish woman” following her defeat for not endorsing him and trying to “straddle the fence” on talking about him.
“MAGA, WHICH IS MOST OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, STAYED HOME – AND IT ALWAYS WILL, UNLESS IT IS TREATED WITH THE RESPECT THAT IT DESERVES,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. “I STAYED OUT OF THE RACE, ‘I WANT TO BE LOVED!’ GIVE US A REAL CANDIDATE IN THE DISTRICT FOR NOVEMBER. SUOZZI, I KNOW HIM WELL, CAN BE EASILY BEATEN!”