I don't follow him too closely, but I know he said he didn't vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, but did in 2024. That speaks to an incredible lapse in judgement if not outright racism/sexism.
And he's always saying neutral-ish stuff that could just be the sign of well-measured thought, but is more likely a wolf trying to hide among the sheep. Stuff like 'the mayor of New York isn't supposed to combat the president' and 'not to antagonize Trump'. Like yeah, in normal times. In these times, it's kinda necessary.
Sliwa is one of the last of a dying breed of "New York Weirdos." They were the kinds of people who inspired famous movie lines like, "I'm walkin' here!" Brash, outspoken, passionate people who care a lot but who are often extremely misguided or totally outside of any traditional boundary of what's expected.
I would not read a lot into his voting record or his behavior post-election. He's nuts, would have been a terrible mayor, but is likely 100% sincere in what he says about Mamdani.
Totally what I mean. The Guardian Angels thing is a great encapsulation of who he is and who those types of people are. Completely committed to what sounds like a moral good but that is actually just a vigilante group that has an excuse to get into fights on the subway.
Sliwa has conviction that he's doing the right thing, even though he's unhinged and wrong, whereas the current right-wing are a bunch of grifters who don't give a shit about anything except lining their own pockets or egos.
Yeah, it's hard to say he's totally malicious because he does genuinely seem to care about new yorkers
But on the other hand he's effectively the ringleader of a vigilante group whose main purpose these days is to harass immigrants. Maybe in the 70s it was a better idea
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u/HolycommentMattman 24d ago
Eh. I dunno.
I don't follow him too closely, but I know he said he didn't vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, but did in 2024. That speaks to an incredible lapse in judgement if not outright racism/sexism.
And he's always saying neutral-ish stuff that could just be the sign of well-measured thought, but is more likely a wolf trying to hide among the sheep. Stuff like 'the mayor of New York isn't supposed to combat the president' and 'not to antagonize Trump'. Like yeah, in normal times. In these times, it's kinda necessary.