US News

ANTI-JACKO PETE BOASTS: I’M BAD!

Long Island Rep. Peter King said yesterday that his surprise hit video ripping Michael Jackson as a “pervert” and “pedophile” has made him the overnight spokesman for a silent majority who believe the King of Pop isn’t worthy of hero worship.

King told The Post that about 60 percent of the flood of “hundreds and hundreds” of calls and e-mails to his office reacting to his two-minute video slamming Jackson have been positive.

Among those who identified themselves as New Yorkers, the Republican said, the percentage supporting him was even higher.

“I think I hit a raw nerve,” King said, adding that his office’s six phones have been ringing off the hook since he posted the video on YouTube on Sunday night.

He said that while the positive feedback has outweighed the negative, the complaints from Jackson fans have been memorable.

They have included “yelling and cursing and screaming,” and many of the Jacko supporters’ e-mails have been “vile and pornographic,” King said.

King’s video had racked up nearly 35,000 views on YouTube as of last night.

“I’m going viral!” he said.

King, who is weighing a run for the US Senate next year, says in the video, filmed in front of the Wantagh American Legion:

“This guy was a pervert, a child molester; he was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country?”

“He died, he had some talent, fine,” King added.

King said he decided to post his video after speaking with constituents over the Fourth of July weekend.

“A number of them were mentioning to me, ‘When’s this stuff with Michael Jackson going to end?’ ” King said. “It’s just too much.”

King added that the “orgy of glorification” around Jackson had gone on too long to ignore any longer, even if Jackson’s family is mourning.

“If you want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for the young boys who were sleeping with him,” King said.

The congressman’s YouTube page quickly became a gathering place for those who share his dim view of Jackson.

“Thank you Peter King for saying what many of us are thinking. Finally someone has the guts to say it!” read one post by a user named “Asrealasitgets8422.”

“Finally, someone with some sense to see that idolizing [Jackson] is plain ridiculous. I am sick of people that claim he was an amazing human being, when it is CLEAR he was a pathological liar, delusional, perverted and just bizarre!” read another, from “GabrielitaNumero1.”

But Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel and other political figures struck back at King after word of his video rant spread.

“Most people are really surprised that Peter or anyone else would pick a time when the family is mourning to give vent to his very, very poison opinion of this person who we lost,” Rangel, a Democrat, said yesterday.

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Jackson family spokesman Ken Sunshine said the family was preparing for Jackson’s funeral and would not dignify King’s statement with a comment.

Rep. Steve Israel (D-LI) said, “My parents taught me to never speak ill of the dead.”

A Jackson fan named “Max” wrote on YouTube, “Peter King, you are an ignorant, barely literate jerk. The world has lost a kind gentle soul with tremendous talent.”

Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens), who walked out of the City Council meeting last week rather than participate in a the moment of silence for Jackson, said he understood King’s point.

“While the music was amazing, the person behind the music admitted to some very troubling behavior, and I think society does need to look at the message that it’s sending to our kids,” he said.

Al Sharpton released a statement yesterday thrashing King for ignoring that Jackson was never convicted.

daphne.retter@nypost.com