US Rep. Tim Bishop took offense for real when a fictional character on “House of Cards” mocked Long Island wines as tasting like “piss.”
The Long Island Democrat, who is facing a brutal re-election fight this year, said he “takes exception” to the acrid critique of wines produced by his beloved constituents.
At issue was House Majority Whip Jacqueline Sharp, a character played by Molly Parker on the hit Netflix show about Washington political intrigue, saying that Long Island wines “taste like piss compared to what we have in Napa.”
She then suggested that Long Island wines belong in another congressman’s proposed waste-treatment plant.
“We have exceptional wines,” Bishop fumed to the Suffolk Times.
He boasted that fine wines are “produced by skilled, dedicated and hardworking owners and their employees of vineyards on both forks of our East End, which is why wine production is one of the fastest-growing industries on Long Island.”
Bishop will be miffed again Thursday when he turns on the TV and sees that he’s at the center of real-life Washington intrigue in a new attack ad.
The spot by the National Republican Congressional Committee hits Bishop for an alleged “pay to play” scandal that has dogged the congressman for two years.
In 2012, Bishop helped obtain a permit for an extravagant fireworks show at the bar mitzvah party for the son of wealthy hedge-fund investor Eric Semler — and then allegedly hit Semler up for a $10,000 campaign contribution. “Here’s the story on Tim Bishop,” says the female speaker in the ad that was obtained by The Post. “Bishop agreed to help a constituent obtain government permits. Then days later asked for thousands in cash. Bishop did the favor, then got the cash.”
It notes that Bishop remains under investigation by the House ethics committee and that the FBI also investigated the incident.
“Corruption, federal investigations,” the ad concludes. “Tim Bishop’s everything that is wrong with Washington.”
The Bishop campaign did not return calls. The congressman has previously denied wrongdoing.