He’ll pander to any crowd!
Mayoral front-runner Bill de Blasio stood silently by as celebrity booster Harry Belafonte compared the Tea Party-supporting Koch brothers to the Ku Klux Klan inside a Harlem Church on Sunday — then let the inflammatory attack slide as he spoke to the overflow congregation.
De Blasio warmly embraced Belafonte after the liberal icon called the Kochs “white supremacists” and “men of evil,” and repeatedly praised the actor during his own speech from the pulpit of the First Corinthian Baptist Church.
Belafonte, 87, viciously tore into billionaire energy moguls and political activists Charles and David Koch as he introduced de Blasio to the virtually all-black audience.
“Already we have lost 14 states in this union to the most corrupt group of citizens I’ve ever known. They make up the heart and the thinking in the minds of those who would belong to the Ku Klux Klan. They are white supremacists. They are men of evil. They have names,” Belafonte said.
“They are flooding our country with money. They’ve come into to New York City — they are beginning to buy their way in to city politics. They are pouring money into Presbyterian Hospital to take over the medical care system.”
“The Koch brothers, that’s their name,” he added.
Shortly after the outrageous comment, de Blasio took the stage, hugging Belafonte and praising him as “a treasure to our nation” who “hasn’t changed one bit” — without addressing his racially charged remarks.
“When you listen to Harry, you are listening to a voice of a wisdom that’s deeper than any wisdom we need in our day-to-day life,” the Democratic candidate said.
It was only when pressed for comment by reporters afterward, that de Blasio offered mild criticism of Belafonte, saying “I disagree with that characterization” of the Kochs and “that was the wrong way to talk about them.”
De Blasio then slammed the Kochs for “trying to impose a conservative agenda on our public discourse” — even though city resident David Koch agrees with him on issues including abortion rights, gay marriage, and opposition to the Iraq war.
De Blasio also got testy when asked why he didn’t address Belafonte’s remarks in front of the crowd.
“I’m here mentioning it with you guys. Next?” barked a testy de Blasio, who held a 41 point lead in a Wall Street Journal-NBC 4 New York-Marist poll released Sunday.
De Blasio’s Republican opponent, Joe Lhota, blasted Belafonte’s “race-baiting and hateful” remarks, and faulted de Blasio for not immediately denouncing them and demanding an apology.
“I’m very surprised that Mr. de Blasio is blind to race baiting,” Lhota said while campaigning in Bayside, Queens.
“It’s very sad that Bill de Blasio will allow hate speech right in front of him and not say something.”
Lhota’s campaign also released a statement saying, ““It’s reprehensible that a candidate for mayor of the city of New York would closely associate himself with an individual who has equated the American government to al Qaeda and the 9/11 hijackers and has a long history of hateful, racist remarks.”
“One of our greatest mayors, Ed Koch, denounced Mr. Belafonte and urged other Democrats to do the same. Our public leaders must have the courage and conviction to speak out against unacceptable conduct. Mr. de Blasio had that opportunity and failed,” the statement added.
Belafonte was unapologetic when he spoke to reporters outside the church, but added: “There is a difference between what I think on many issues and what de Blasio thinks.”
“And I don’t hold him hostage to my feelings. I didn’t hold (President John) Kennedy hostage. I didn’t hold Dr. (Martin Luther) King hostage,” he said.
“My feelings are my feelings. As far as the Koch brothers are concerned, they are not my cup of tea.”
A spokesman for the Kochs said “Mr. Belafonte’s comments are false and reprehensible….divisive and destructive, and are indicative of the type of hateful rhetoric that leads to the breakdown of a civil and respectful society.”
“It is unfortunate that he and others choose to make such false comments about Charles Koch and David Koch, who have devoted their lives to advancing tolerance and a free society — where every individual is judged on his or her individual merits and they are free to make decisions about their lives,” spokesman Rob Tappan added.
Additional reporting by Lia Eustachewich